Dr. Richard Milich is Professor and Provost’s Distinguished Service Professor in the
Department of Psychology at the University of Kentucky. He received his Ph.D. in clinical
psychology from Washington University in St. Louis in 1976 and has been an active
researcher in the area of ADHD since that time. Regarded internationally as one of the
leading investigators in the field of ADHD, Dr. Milich has over 125 publications in this
area. His research has addressed a variety of topics germane to the problems experienced
by children with ADHD. These include: the peer problems of children with ADHD; the
effects of stimulant medication and behavioral interventions in the treatment of ADHD;
the cognitive difficulties of these children, with a special emphasis on story
comprehension problems; and classification issues associated with this disorder. 

During his career Dr. Milich has been PI or co-PI on several million dollars worth of
federally funded research, and he also served as a reviewer for the National Institutes
of Mental Health for the ADHD multisite treatment study and for the ADHD innovative
treatment panel. He completed a six-year term as Associate Editor of the Journal of
Abnormal Psychology, the leading journal in the field of clinical psychology. In
addition, he currently is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology,
the Journal of Abnormal ChildPsychology, Perspectives on Psychological Science, and The
ADHD Report. Dr. Milich has also served in several national administrative positions,
including Program Chair and Chair of the Fellow Selection Committee of Division 53
(Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology) of the American Psychological Association. He
has received three awards for outstanding mentoring of graduate students, including one
from Division 53 of APA, one from the Kentucky Psychological Association, as well as the
Sturgill Award from the University of Kentucky. 

Current Research: 

My primary research interests are concerned with childhood behavior problems, especially
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; i.e., hyperactivity) and conduct disorder
(CD). My current primary research focus in this regard deals with story comprehension
among children with ADHD. For the past two decades Dr. Betty Lorch and I have had
federally funded grants to explore the development of story comprehension abilities among
children with ADHD. 

My second line of current research is on the predictors of long-term drug use. I am
currently Administrative Directon on the university's NIDA funded Drug Prevention
Center, and I am PI on a longitudinal project looking at the risk factors that lead to
escalation in drug use among freshmen college student. 

Finally, I have been undertaking studies with Dr. Mark Fillmore examining the role of
disinhibition among children and adults with ADHD, including alcohol challenge studies
among the adult population. 

Articles

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Drinking to Distraction: Does Alcohol Increase Attentional Bias in Adults With ADHD? (with Walter Roberts and Mark T. Fillmore), Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology (2012)
 

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The Effects of Stimulant Medication on Free Recall of Story Events among Children with ADHD (with Ursula L. Bailey, Karen J. Derefinko, Elizabeth P. Lorch, and Amanda Metze), Journal of Psychopathology & Behavioral Assessment (2011)
 

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Linking impulsivity and inhibitory control using manual and oculomotor response inhibition tasks (with Walter Roberts and Mark T. Fillmore), Acta Psychologica (2011)
 

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Does Response Variability Predict Distractibility Among Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder? (with Zachary W. Adams, Walter M. Roberts, and Mark T. Fillmore), Psychological Assessment (2011)
 

Books

Inhibitory Control and Drug Abuse Prevention: From Research to Translation (with Micheal T. Bardo and Diana H. Fishbein) (2011)
 
Introduction to Clinical Psychology (with Michael T. Nietzel, Douglas A. Bernstein, and Geoffrey P. Kramer), Psychology Book Gallery (2003)
 

Contributions to Books

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Future Directions for Research on Inhibitory Control and Drug Abuse Prevention (with Michael T. Bardo and Diana H. Fishbein), Inhibitory Control and Drug Abuse Prevention: From Research to Translation (2011)
 
Why's everybody always picking on me? : social cognition, emotion regulation, and chronic peer victimization in children (with Paul J. Rosen and Monica J. Harris), Bullying, rejection, and peer victimization a social cognitive neuroscience perspective (2009)
 
Story comprehension impairments in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (with Elizabeth P. Lorch, Kristen S. Berthiaume, and Paul van den Broek), Children's Comprehension Problems in Oral and Written Language: A Cognitive Perspective (2007)
 
Story Comprehension in Children with ADHD: Research findings and Treatment Implications (with Elizabeth P. Lorch and Kristen S. Berthiaume), Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) research (2005)
 

Link

Basic Science and Drug Abuse Prevention: Neuroscience, Learning and Personality Perspectives (with Michael T. Bardo, Thomas Kelly, and Donald R. Lynam), Handbook of Drug Abuse Prevention: Theory, Science, and Practice (2003)
 

Presentations

Link

ADHD & Reading Comprehension, University of Kentucky Podcast (2011)