This study looked at what predicts stopping ADHD medication soon after starting it. Researchers used health records and registers from eight countries and regions, covering just over a million people who began ADHD medication between 2011 and 2020 (1,000,411 new users, 44% female). They split people into four age groups: children aged 4 to 11, teenagers aged 12 to 17, young adults aged 18 to 24, and adults aged 25 to 60.
Among children, several conditions were linked to stopping early: intellectual disability (hazard ratio 1.47), autism (1.32), and the use of antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication (1.41) or antipsychotics (1.51). A higher hazard ratio here means a greater chance of stopping sooner. Conduct or oppositional defiant disorder was instead linked to staying on treatment longer (0.83).
From the teenage years on, few clear predictors held up. Teenagers showed no consistent link once the researchers accounted for testing many factors. Among young adults, only conduct or oppositional defiant disorder predicted early stopping (1.42). Among adults, schizophrenia (1.25) and tic disorders (1.27) did.
Results varied a lot between countries, mostly because of the United States data. Differences between men and women were small.
Source: Isabell Brikell, Aske Astrup, Theresa Wimberley, et al.. Psychiatric and neurological predictors of early ADHD medication discontinuation across the lifespan: a multinational study. BMJ Mental Health (2026). doi:10.1136/bmjment-2025-302469