Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders in childhood. Children with epilepsy have been found to have high rates of adaptation problems, especially mental health and academic achievement problems. Factors accounting for these problems, however, have not been identified. The goal of this study is to identify factors that are related to these problems over time. The sample will be 160 youth (80 girls and 80 boys) ages 9-14 years, who have been diagnosed and treated for epilepsy for at least 6 months. Data will be collected three times over a 2-year period: baseline, 1 year, and 2 years. The primary aim is to identify a predictive model for child adaptation (behavior problems, self-concept, depression, psychiatric syndrome, and academic achievement) over time based on selected neurological, seizure condition, family, and child variables. Neurological variables include brain structure and neuropsychological functioning (e.g., intelligence, memory, attention, learning, and executive function). Seizure condition variables include age at onset, type, syndrome, frequency, severity, and anti-epilepsy medication and side effects. Family variables include demographics (socioeconomic status and parent education); parent responses (perceptions of stigma and coping responses); family environment (stressors, resources, and adaptation); and parent psychosocial care needs. Child variables include demographics (age, gender, and pubertal status); response (attitudes, coping, and learned helplessness); and psychosocial care needs. Data analyses will include repeated measures regression and structural equation modeling. We will determine the extent to which neurological, seizure, family and child variables are related to child mental health and academic achievement over time. In addition, we will elaborate the above model by identifying how by exploring whether selected variables serve as mediating (e.g. child responses) or moderating (e.g., intelligence) variables in the model.
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