Recent Randomized Clinical Trials Comparing Behavioral Interventions and Psychopharmacologic Treatments for Students with EBD

Although many psychopharmacologic treatments and behavioral or cognitive behavioral interventions have been established as evidence-based practices, they have seldom been directly compared to one another as to outcome in children with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). In this paper, we present findings from 6 recent randomized clinical trials that made such direct comparisons. Three involve children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and 3 involve children or adolescents with depression or anxiety disorders. Findings suggest that combined treatments are probably most efficacious but that psychopharmacologic treatments may be somewhat more effective than behavioral or cognitive behavioral interventions in at least 5 of the 6 trials. These results are discussed in reference to pursuit of evidence-based practice in special education.