ABSTRACT
Children and adolescents can experience a variety of health difficulties that may warrant treatment. Approximately 21%of children and adolescents in theUnited States are diagnosable with one or more psychiatric disorders (Shaffer et al., 1996). Similarly, between 10-15% of children are afflicted with chronic illnesses or other health conditions at some point in their development (Tarnowski & Brown, 2000). One of the most common methods for treating these physical and mental health conditions is pharmacotherapy. Psychotropic medications are increasingly prescribed to treat behavior and emotional disorders in children (Brown & Sawyer, 1998). Furthermore, the effectiveness of medication has been studied widely for the treatment of a variety of disorders. For example, themost widely studied treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a stimulant medication, methylphenidate (Barkley, 1998).
