Factors Affecting the Parental Stress of Children and Adolescents with Epilepsy

Objectives：The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of clinical and psychological factors on the parental stress of children and adolescents with epilepsy.
Methods：Children and adolescents with epilepsy (n=90, age range=6-17 years) completed questionnaires on epilepsy-related variables, children’s depressive symptoms (Children’s Depression Inventory, CDI), children’s anxiety (Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale, RCMAS) and performed the scale for children’s intelligence (IQ). Parents who have children and adolescents with epilepsy completed questionnaires on parental stress (Questionnaire on Resources and stress, QRS), parental anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI),
children’s attention problems (Abbreviated Conners Parent Rating Scale Revised, CPRS), and children’s behavioral problems (Korean Child Behavior Checklist, K-CBCL). Stepwise regression analysis was performed to
determine the significant predictive variables that affect parental stress.
Results：In the correlational analysis, duration of seizure treatment (r=0.253, p=0.016), children’s IQ (r=-0.544, p<0.001), children’s attention problems (r=0.602, p<0.001), children’s depressive symptoms (r=0.335, p=0.002), children’s anxiety (r=0.306, p=0.004), children’s behavioral problems (r=0.618, p<0.001), and parental anxiety (r=0.478, p<0.001), showed a significant correlation with parental stress. Children’s behavioral problem (β=0.241, p=0.010), children’s IQ (β=-0.472, p<0.001), and parental anxiety (β=0.426, p<0.001) were significantly related to the parental stress (Adjusted R2
=0.619).
Conclusions：Clinicians should pay attention to children’s intelligence and behavioral problems and parental anxiety, which affect parental stress with children and adolescents with epilepsy.
KEY WORDS :EpilepsyㆍChildren and adolescentsㆍPsychological factorsㆍParental stress - Behavioral problems