title: Predictors of positive and negative attitudes toward their condition in Turkish individuals with epilepsy.
abstract: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore the attitudes of individuals with epilepsy (IWE) toward their condition via self-reported changes in the feelings/thoughts about having epilepsy. We aimed to investigate whether individuals with epilepsy perceive a change in their initial attitudes toward the condition over time. Additionally, if a change was perceived, the variables which predict the current thoughts/feelings toward epilepsy were also examined. Seventy adult IWE participated in the study. Of the 70 participants in the study, 25.7% retained their initial feelings/thoughts without any change. Among the IWE who reported no-change, the most common category was "negative from the beginning". On the other hand, 74.3% of the participants reported a change. Of the 74.3% of participants reporting change, the most common direction was from negative to positive" (79.2%) seeming to indicate a positive adjustment over the passage of time. In a logistic regression, only three factors were found to predict positive feelings/thoughts toward epilepsy: a clear understanding of the condition, low levels of depression and current employment status. Finally, there is a discussion of the potential applications of the IWE' self-assessment of their attitudes.
authors.affiliation: Izmir University of Economics, Department of Psychology, Turkey. nuran.aydemir@ieu.edu.tr
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aydemir
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jacoby
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ozkara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011336:Probability; D012307:Risk Factors; D012647:Self-Assessment; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology