Abstract—This review examines the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), focusing on longitudinal treatment effects of medication and behavioural treatments for children with ADHD, and delves into the often-overlooked aspect of anxiety comorbidity. Initiated in the 1990s, the study spans over 16 years, documenting various treatment effects on symptom severity and social functions of children with ADHD. The findings suggest that while medication is generally more effective for ADHD, current treatments do not fully normalize patients. The paper emphasizes ADHD as a developmental disorder causing ongoing executive function impairment and emotional burdens for patients and their families. Notably, it addresses ADHD's multiple comorbidities, with a central focus on anxiety comorbidity, which contributes to behavioural and academic challenges and can impair functioning into adulthood. The review combs the main findings from the MTA study and its follow-ups based on time sequence, offering insights into optimizing ADHD treatments. The interplay of ADHD and anxiety symptoms and their joint impact on treatment effectiveness are critically analyzed. This paper not only sheds light on the complexities of treating ADHD, particularly in the presence of anxiety comorbidity but also highlights the need for more focused research in this area to develop more effective, tailored treatment strategies. 

Keywords—attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, multimodal treatment study, anxiety, comorbidity, psychostimulant, behavioural treatment

Cite: Yilin Li, "A Review of Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Focused Discussion of Anxiety Comorbidity in ADHD," International Journal of Pharma Medicine and Biological Sciences, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 67-73, 2024.

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