Overview

• A JAMA research letter analyzed responses from 259,623 eighth-, tenth- and twelfth-grade students participating in the Monitoring the Future survey.
• Current medical use of ADHD stimulants among adolescents rose modestly to 4.46% by 2023, with lifetime use hitting a high of 9.3% in 2022.
• Lifetime nonmedical use declined from about 10% in 2005 to 4.69% in 2023, marking the lowest recorded level in the survey’s history.
• Among teens with active prescriptions, 66.9% reported three years or more of stimulant treatment, while medical and nonmedical co-use also decreased.
• The steepest declines in nonmedical use occurred among tenth and twelfth graders, who initially reported the highest rates of misuse.