Medical use of either stimulant or non-stimulant drugs to treat ADHD changed little from 2022 to 2023 in 12th and 10th grade, for both lifetime and 30-day use. Consequently, the increases in use that occurred last year persisted into 2023.

In 8th grade use edged lower in 2023 for both lifetime and 30-day use. These declines eroded the substantial increases in use since the pandemic, although prevalence levels remain above those recorded before the pandemic onset in 2020.

In all three grades, prevalence increases after the pandemic onset in 2021 and 2022 reversed a decline that had led both lifetime and 30-day prevalence to be at or near the lowest level recorded by the survey in 2020.  

It is possible that the need for treatment of ADHD increased during the pandemic due to adolescents experiencing more stress during the pandemic. Another possibility is that sheltering at home during the pandemic may have made any attention issues of adolescents more salient to their parents. 

All results from 2020 are from surveys completed before March 15, 2020, when national social distancing policies were implemented and the survey halted due to pandemic concerns.