title: Adaptive functioning in pediatric epilepsy: contributions of seizure-related variables and parental anxiety.
abstract: Young people with epilepsy are less likely to achieve the level of independence attained by their peers. We examined the seizure-related variables that placed a group of 97 pediatric patients with intractable seizures at risk for poor adaptive functioning. Analyses evaluated both the direct effects of the medical variables and indirect effects that were mediated through increased parental anxiety about their child's epilepsy. Higher numbers of anticonvulsants, presence of seizures that secondarily generalize, longer duration of seizure disorder, and younger age at onset were all identified as risk factors for poor adaptive functioning. Depending on the specific behavioral domain of adaptive functioning, the effects were sometimes direct and sometimes indirect. Lower levels of parental education and positive family history of seizures were associated with higher levels of parental anxiety. Interventions that target parental anxiety about seizures may mitigate the deleterious effects of epilepsy on social development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Section of Psychology, Texas Children's Hospital, 6701 Fannin, CC-1630, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: vkerne@utexas.edu.
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kerne
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Section of Psychology, Texas Children's Hospital, 6701 Fannin, CC-1630, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: mlchapie@texaschildrens.org.
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chapieski
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004522:Educational Status; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000523:psychology*; D004829:Epilepsy, Generalized / Q000523:psychology; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012640:Seizures / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants
keywords: Adaptive skills; Epilepsy; Pediatric; Seizures; Social development