Lessons from Large Trials: The MTA Study as a Model for Evaluating the Treatment of Childhood Psychiatric Disorder

OBJECTIVE: To review the methodology of the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the MTA study, and its implications for the design of future child mental health treatment studies. METHOD: The characteristics of large-scale studies envisioned by trialists engaged in cardiovascular and cancer research provide the framework for reviewing key elements of the MTA study--objectives, research …