Lithium treatment of conduct disorders in adolescents

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the efficacy of lithium carbonate for treating conduct disorder in adolescents. METHOD: The subjects were 33 inpatients aged 12-17 years. Lithium or placebo was administered in a double-blind fashion for 2 weeks. RESULTS: On several measures of clinical change the groups showed no significant differences. Of the patients who completed the study, 8.3% of those receiving placebo (one of 12) versus 21.4% (three of 14) of those receiving lithium were considered responders. CONCLUSIONS: Lithium does not appear beneficial for this indication.