# Risk of Psychosis with Prescription Stimulant Use

> **NIH NIH K23** · MCLEAN HOSPITAL · 2020 · $197,441

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
An estimated 3.5 million American children and adolescents are prescribed prescription stimulants for the
treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A large body of animal research demonstrates that
stimulants induce long-term changes in dopamine systems in the brain that parallel changes observed in
individuals with psychosis. Although it is known that stimulants can precipitate acute episodes of psychosis,
there is a lack of research on whether stimulants increase long-term risk of developing a psychotic disorder or
whether stimulants are associated with an earlier onset of psychosis. To address these gaps, the principal
investigator (PI) proposes a career development program that blends rigorous training by Harvard faculty with
an innovative research agenda that uses two complementary approaches to study the risk of psychosis with
prescription stimulant use: 1) A large-scale longitudinal study using electronic medical records for a New
England healthcare system to compare the risk of developing a psychotic disorder in children/adolescents with
ADHD based on exposure to prescription stimulants, and 2) a patient-oriented clinical research study in
individuals with first-episode psychosis to determine if prescription stimulant use prior to illness onset is
associated with an earlier onset of psychosis. The PI is a psychiatrist with clinical expertise in psychotic
disorders with a background in neuroimaging research in schizophrenia. Training objectives for this grant are
for the PI to: 1) Develop expertise in epidemiology and use of electronic medical records to perform large-scale
studies of putative risk factors for psychosis; 1) Develop expertise in research in child and adolescent
psychiatry and first-episode psychosis; and 2) Develop advanced skills in complex statistics such as propensity
score matching, survival analysis and predictive modeling. These goals will be accomplished by formal
coursework and mentorship by an exceptionally-qualified team of scientists who are internationally-recognized
leaders in research directly relevant to the current proposal. The proposed research project aligns with the
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Strategic Objective 2 on charting mental illness trajectories to allow
early intervention. By charting the trajectory from childhood/adolescence to onset of psychosis, this research
may potentially identify a modifiable risk factor that could alter the likelihood of progression to psychosis. The
successful completion of this career development plan will assist the PI in making the transition to an
independent investigator with the long-term goal of identifying risk factors for psychosis to target those
individuals most at risk and allow early intervention. In addition, this award will provide the PI with the training
and tools necessary for future studies involving the analysis of large-scale multi-element electronic medical
record data sets in alignment...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9884610
- **Project number:** 5K23MH110564-04
- **Recipient organization:** MCLEAN HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** LAUREN V MORAN
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $197,441
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-03-20 → 2021-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9884610

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9884610, Risk of Psychosis with Prescription Stimulant Use (5K23MH110564-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9884610. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*