Effects of Stimulant Medications in PTSD (SMP)

June 18, 2026 updated by: University of Chicago
While there have been advances in understanding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a disorder and its biological features, unfortunately only one out of five traumatized persons with PTSD reach remission after cycling through evidence-based and/or FDA-approved medications. This is especially unfortunate given that people with PTSD are often from vulnerable populations, or those whose professions entail personal sacrifice. It is clear that new serotonergic antidepressants and atypical antipsychotics will not be sufficient to fix this gap, and new mechanisms of action need to be tested. In the current proposal, the investigators test the hypothesis that mixed amphetamine salts (brand name Adderall), FDA-approved for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), can improve PTSD outcomes.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a debilitating neuropsychiatric condition triggered by exposure to a traumatic exposure. Approximately 8% of the US population will experience the condition in their lifetime. At-risk populations, such as those exposed to community violence or warfare, have nearly double the risk. Despite progress in recognizing that PTSD is a disorder of neural circuits that underlie how individuals learn from the world, available treatments, including two FDA-approved medications (serotonergic antidepressants) and gold-standard evidence-based psychotherapies, help only one in five individuals reach remission. One key aspect of PTSD is difficulty in engaging in social interactions. Based on surprising evidence published in peer-reviewed manuscripts from our research programs at The University of Chicago, medications used to treat ADHD have positive effects on social interaction. Combined with promising data from biological studies of PTSD, psychostimulants used to safely treat ADHD such as Adderall (generic: mixed amphetamine salts), can help people with PTSD re-engage in social relationships that are the key to their recovery. This study will test the hypothesis that mixed amphetamine salts will acutely increase social interaction in adults with PTSD compared to placebo in a novel laboratory-based social interaction task.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

40

Phase

  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60637
        • University of Chicago
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Royce Lee

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18 - 65 years old
  • BMI 19-30 kg/m2
  • English fluency

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Individuals with current moderate or severe substance use disorder, no past stimulant or cocaine use disorder
  • Individuals with current acute or high risk of suicide or suicide attempt in past 6 months
  • Individuals with current psychotic or bipolar disorder
  • Individuals with past schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, psychotic bipolar disorder, stimulant or cocaine use disorder
  • Individuals with chronic (non-PRN) treatment with antipsychotic drug (except PRN quetiapine 25mg PO qHS) or D2 antagonist
  • Individuals with medications with significant PD or PK interactions
  • Individuals with current treatment with a stimulant medication
  • Individuals with court or legally mandated treatment
  • Individuals with unstable or untreated medical disorder that would increase the risk of serious side effects of study drug (unstable hypertension, tachycardia, cardiac arrhythmia, recent MI or stroke, clinically significant neuropsychiatric or neurological disorder)
  • Members of a vulnerable population
  • High blood pressure (>140/90)
  • Women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning to become pregnant

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: placebo
dextrose
Drug: Placebo
dextrose
Experimental: Adderall
Adderall (20 mg)
Drug: Adderall
mixed amphetamine salts

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Quality of Social Interaction Ratings using the Conversation Questionnaire
Time Frame: Completed 4 hours post-drug administration during both sessions (drug, placebo)
6 items on a 9 point Likert scale. Higher scores indicate increased quality of social interactions
Completed 4 hours post-drug administration during both sessions (drug, placebo)
Quality of Social Interaction Ratings using connection during conversation scale
Time Frame: Completed 4 hours post-drug administration during both sessions (drug, placebo)
9 point Likert scale with 16 items. Includes subscales: conversation enjoyment, perceived meaningfulness, and feelings of interpersonal connection. Higher scores indicate increased quality of social interactions
Completed 4 hours post-drug administration during both sessions (drug, placebo)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Chicago

Collaborators

Cures Within Reach

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Royce Lee, MD, University of Chicago

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

September 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 15, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 15, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 15, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 18, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 24, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 24, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 18, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB25-1935

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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