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Aripiprazole, a commonly used antipsychotic medication marketed as Abilify, curtails aggressive behavior in autistic children, according to a new review, but not enough is known about the drug’s side effects or its efficacy in different populations.
A feature in Spectrum last year prompted the new review, says Alan Poling, lead investigator and professor of psychology at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
“The Spectrum article caused us to ask ourselves: Did we miss something?” he says. “That focused our attention on the literature.”
Poling and his colleagues scoured PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for articles containing the terms “aripiprazole” and “autism spectrum disorder.” They winnowed the 500-plus results down to a list of 12 review articles and 14 original studies. None suggested that aripiprazole changes core autism features, such as social-communication difficulties or restricted and repetitive behaviors.
Autistic children and teenagers taking aripiprazole improved more than ...
