A Comparison of Haloperidol and Behavior Therapy and Their Interaction in Autistic Children

doi:10.1016/S0002-7138(09)61017-7

Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry

Volume 17, Issue 4, Autumn 1978, Pages 640-655

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-7138(09)61017-7 Get rights and content

Abstract

Haloperidol and behavior therapy, and the interaction of the two treatments were critically assessed with respect to their effects on symptoms and language acquisition in 40 autistic children aged 2.6 to 7.2 years. The children were randomly assigned to four treatment groups in a factorial design. The study was placebo controlled and double-blind, using multiple independent raters who assessed treatment effects under three types of rating conditions. Haloperidol was found to be significantly superior to placebo in decreasing certain symptoms, depending on the age group. The combination of the two treatments was most effective in facilitating the acquisition of imitative speech. Optimal dosage of haloperidol ranged from 0.5 to 4.0 mg./day; the most common untoward effect was excessive sedation, which was clearly a function of dosage.

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: This study was supported, in part, by Public Health Service Grant MH 04665 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors wish to express their thanks to McNeil Laboratories for their generous gift and for the supply of medication; to Mrs. Kathleen Nash, R.N., Mrs. Sara Sol, Miss Dorothy Machida, and Miss Elle Steinhardt, R.N. for their devotion to the children and for their efforts in this study; to Mrs. Patricia Cleary (George Washington University Laboratory) for the statistical analysis of data; to Drs. Eugene I. Burdock and Anne S. Hardesty (Department of Psychiatry) for methodological suggestions.

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CURRENT RESEARCH ON THE SYNDROME OF AUTISMA Comparison of Haloperidol and Behavior Therapy and Their Interaction in Autistic Children

Abstract

This Journal

Lithium and chlorpromazine

J. Aut. Childh. Schizo.

Acute responses of schizophrenic children to a sedative and a “stimulating” neuroleptic

Curr. Ther. Res.

Current status of drug research and treatment with autistic children

J. Pediat. Psychol.

A controlled crossover study of triiodothyronine in young psychotic children

J. Aut. Childh. Schizo.

Measurement of drug effects in autistic children

Psychopharm. Bull

Schizophrenic syndrome in childhood. Further progress report of a working party

Develpm. Med. Child. Neurol.

Prognosis in autism

J. Aut. Childh. Schizo.

Assessment of children's behavioral deficits

The autistic child in adolescence

Amer. J. Psychiat.

A double-blind comparison of fluphenazine and haloperidol in outpatient schizophrenic children

J. Aut. Childh. Schizo.

CURRENT RESEARCH ON THE SYNDROME OF AUTISM
A Comparison of Haloperidol and Behavior Therapy and Their Interaction in Autistic Children