The effectiveness of naltrexone in treating task attending, aggression, self-injury, and stereotypic mannerisms of six young males with autism or pervasive developmental disorders

An 8-week trial of 2 mg/kg/day of naltrexone (Trexan, now called ReVia) was conducted with four males with autism and two males with pervasive developmental disorders. Two dependent measures were employed: (a) direct behavioral measurement conducted by blind observers using videotape recordings of periodic learning task sessions, and (b) performance measures of the learning activity Direct behavior measures revealed one participant's attending-to-task improved while receiving naltrexone. However two of the participants' rates of self-injury increased, as did one of those participant's rate of aggression. Significant improvement was observed on performance measures of the learning task; however the improved performance continued during the non-drug return to baseline for the three participants who experienced this additional condition. Discussion is provided relating these findings to previously published results.