# A prospective examination of stimulant diversion and related risk factors for young adults with childhood- or adult-diagnosed ADHD

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $56,294

## Abstract

Project Summary (Parent Grant DA049721)
Diversion of ADHD stimulants, by sharing, selling, or trading, is the primary conduit by which these Schedule II
controlled drugs reach their peak prevalence of misuse in early adulthood (use without a prescription, overuse
of prescribed medication). Yet, understanding of stimulant diversion and contributing factors is limited to
speculation from small cross-sectional studies. Dramatically increased rates of stimulant prescribing in recent
years (from ~49.2 to 62.8M people), mainly in adults, has heightened concern. The state- of-science on this
important topic precludes development of prevention efforts based on variables with inferred causal influence.
Additionally, although primary care is the most common treatment setting for ADHD, this population and its risk
for diversion in adulthood, including when diagnosis and treatment occurs after childhood, is poorly
understood. Due to concern about these trends and reports of associated physical dangers and legal
consequences, the FDA recently established a public docket requesting comments on the potential role of
abuse- deterrent stimulant formulations. The accompanying review stated a need for information on factors
that would inform their decision-making, including characterization of longitudinal pathways to misuse. The
proposed study prospectively examines stimulant diversion and hypothesized risk factors among young adults
at peak age for stimulant diversion: those initially diagnosed and stimulant-treated in early adulthood, and
those stimulant-treated as adolescents by pediatricians and aging now into early adulthood. The combined
sample will provide a unique opportunity to examine associations between timing of ADHD treatment, stimulant
diversion, and hypothesized risk factors. N=357 adolescents stimulant-treated for ADHD in primary care (U01
DA040213), and 150 newly recruited young adults first diagnosed and treated in adulthood, will be studied
(total n = 507). Three annual assessments will span ages 18-24 to allow prospective study of stimulant
diversion during the age period of its greatest prevalence. Self- and parent-report and behavioral economics
tasks will be used to assess intrapersonal, attitudinal-behavioral, and social-normative risk factors and
environmental moderators (parenting and provider factors). The results of this study will aide Priority Focus
Area #3 of NIDA’s 2016-2020 Strategic Plan, “Addressing Real World Complexities” by generating findings that
will apply to two of the largest, least understood segments of the treated ADHD population—those treated in
primary care, and those young adult-diagnosed. Findings will provide crucially needed prospectively gathered
data to inform the development of stimulant diversion prevention efforts.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10877254
- **Project number:** 3R01DA049721-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** BROOKE S.G. MOLINA
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $56,294
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10877254

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10877254, A prospective examination of stimulant diversion and related risk factors for young adults with childhood- or adult-diagnosed ADHD (3R01DA049721-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10877254. Licensed CC0.

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