School pressures are driving stimulant use among middle class children.

More six percent of U.S. children regularly take stimulant medication, often in order to help them manage in school. But what factors shape stimulant use amongst adolescents at school? In new research which analyses prescriptions for stimulants in the U.S., Marissa King finds that economically advantaged children are more likely to use stimulants in response to academic pressures, and that states with stricter school accountability policies for pupil performance see greater stimulant use amongst children. Making schools more academic, she writes, appears to encourage school-based stimulant use.