Although investigation have demonstrated that stimulants are effective medication for the treatment of the symptoms on the ADHD, a commonly described but quite slightly studied side effect of this type of medication, is the effect on the emotional expression of patients.

evaluate the effect of the treatment with Methylphenidate on the affective/emotional expression in children diagnosed with ADHD.

It's a descriptive study of several cases series, from a center and about a unique group, where 'n” will be 15 children diagnosed with ADHD at the University Hospital, who were required beginning treatment with methylphenidate, with a daily dose of at least 0,3mg/Kg. In this study it will be evaluated the emotional expression of the group, according to the scale Expression and Emotion Scale for Children (EESC) making a comparison between the previous moment to the treatment and a subsequent month from its beginning.

The evaluation of the total result of the EESC conducted by the parent didn't show statistically significant differences between scores previously of the treatment and results after a month with it. The dominions (positive emotions, emotional flatness and emotional lability) didn't show differences between both periods of time, nevertheless, the positive emotions showed a tendency of reduction more showy than the rest, without getting to be statistically significant (p=0.0638).

Statistically there haven't been significant changes in the emotional expression of the children caused by the treatment with methylphenidate. Nevertheless, the data show that there is a tendency to an improvement in it.