---
title: "Psych News Alert: Extended-Release Guanfacine Reduces Hyperactivity in Children With ASD"
description: Extended-release guanfacine appears to be safe and effective for reducing hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and distractibility in children w...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_262205081-Jun-24-2025-07-36-02-6375-PM.jpg
---

 9/1/15 12:00 AM

# Extended-Release Guanfacine Reduces Hyperactivity in Children With ASD

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert)

Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/09/extended-release-guanfacine-reduces.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/09/extended-release-guanfacine-reduces.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/09/extended-release-guanfacine-reduces.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/09/extended-release-guanfacine-reduces.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/09/extended-release-guanfacine-reduces.html)

| ![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_262205081-4.jpg?width=200&height=132&name=shutterstock_262205081-4.jpg) |  |
| --- | --- |

Extended-release guanfacine appears to be safe and effective for reducing hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and distractibility in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a [study](http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.2015.15010055) published in *AJP in Advance*.

While extended-release guanfacine is approved for children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the medication is not well studied in children with ASD. Researchers from the Research Units on Pediatric Psychopharmacology Autism Network conducted a multisite, randomized clinical trial comparing extended-release guanfacine with placebo in children with ASD accompanied by hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and distractibility.

For the study, 53 boys and nine girls, who ranged in age from 5 to 14 years, were randomly assigned to extended-release guanfacine or placebo for eight weeks. The modal daily dose at week 8 was 3 mg/day (range: 1 mg/day to 4 mg/day) for the extended-release guanfacine group and 3 mg/day (range: 2 mg/day to 4 mg/day) for the placebo group.

The guanfacine group showed a 43.6% decline in scores on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-hyperactivity subscale compared with a 13.2% decrease in the placebo group. The rate of positive response (much improved or very much improved on the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale) was 50% for the guanfacine group compared with 9.4% for the placebo group.

The most common adverse events reported by the guanfacine group included drowsiness, fatigue, and decreased appetite.

“Although symptoms of ADHD and ASD often co-occur and may reflect shared underlying genetic risk, the ADHD syndrome in ASD may differ from ADHD in children without ASD,” the researchers stated. “Children with ASD may be internally focused on topics of special interest, find little reward in matters outside of their circumscribed interest, and, consequently, pay little attention to other environmental stimuli. Hyperactivity and impulsiveness in children with ASD appear similar to the hyperactivity and impulsiveness in ADHD and are more amenable to measurement.”

For related information, see the *Psychiatric News* article "[AACAP Updates Guidelines on Autism Spectrum Disorder](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.pn.2014.3a18)."

(Image: nito/Shutterstock)

[autism spectrum disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/autism-spectrum-disorder), [ajp in advance](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ajp-in-advance), [impulsiveness](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/impulsiveness), [hyperactivity](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/hyperactivity), [guanfacine](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/guanfacine)

## Related posts

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/autism%20child%20(blackandwhite)_48757051-Jun-24-2025-10-31-20-2136-PM.jpg?height=200&name=autism%20child%20(blackandwhite)_48757051-Jun-24-2025-10-31-20-2136-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/02/can-youngsters-really-recover-from.html)

[autism spectrum disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/autism-spectrum-disorder), [autism](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/autism), [recovery from autism](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/recovery-from-autism)

## [Can Youngsters Really Recover From Autism?](https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/02/can-youngsters-really-recover-from.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 2/4/13 12:00 AM

Can children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis eventually shed it? In some cases,...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/02/can-youngsters-really-recover-from.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/BoyOnSwing_284399-Jun-24-2025-07-44-55-8528-PM.jpg?height=200&name=BoyOnSwing_284399-Jun-24-2025-07-44-55-8528-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/04/what-relationship-between-autism-and.html)

[autism spectrum disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/autism-spectrum-disorder), [psychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychiatry), [Sweden](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/sweden), [socioeconomic status](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/socioeconomic-status), [epidemiology](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/epidemiology)

## [What's the Relationship Between Autism and Socioeconomic Status?](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/04/what-relationship-between-autism-and.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 4/25/12 12:00 AM

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/04/what-relationship-between-autism-and.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/AutismBoy_157359989-Jun-24-2025-10-33-35-4038-PM.jpg?height=200&name=AutismBoy_157359989-Jun-24-2025-10-33-35-4038-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/01/follow-up-needed-to-better-evaluate.html)

[autism spectrum disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/autism-spectrum-disorder), [autism](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/autism), [Autism Speaks](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/autism-speaks), [diagnosis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/diagnosis), [JAACAP](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/jaacap)

## [Follow-up Needed to Better Evaluate Studies of Early Autism Screening, Say Researchers](https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/01/follow-up-needed-to-better-evaluate.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 1/29/14 12:00 AM

A review of the scientific literature on approaches to early detection of autism spectrum disorders...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/01/follow-up-needed-to-better-evaluate.html)

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert",
    "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T19:39:20.310Z",
  "datePublished" : "2015-09-01T04:00:00.000Z",
  "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Extended-Release Guanfacine Reduces Hyperactivity in Children With ASD",
  "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_262205081-Jun-24-2025-07-36-02-6375-PM.jpg" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/09/extended-release-guanfacine-reduces.html",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg"
    }
  }
}
```