Predictors of Social Functioning in Adolescents with Pediatric Epilepsy

Abstract

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder, known for the brain’s predisposition to generate seizures, that affects children and adults of all ages. Epilepsy is recognized as one of the most prevalent neurological disorders found in children internationally and is characterized by social, psychological, neurobiological, and cognitive deficits. This research aims to identify the influence neuropsychological and epilepsy-related factors have on the overall social functioning in a pediatric epilepsy population to better inform health care providers of potential risk factors for poorer social functioning outcomes, as well as the role depression, a known comorbidity of epilepsy, may play in regard to the patient’s social functioning. Using a de-identified dataset for 44 participants, ranging in age from 10 to 16 years 11 months, this study furthered the exploration of epilepsy-related variables (age of onset, number of AEDs, duration), cognitive variables (processing speed, working memory) and level of depressive symptoms in predicting social functioning. Clinically significant and at-risk scores were observed in a combined 22% of the sample for Depression and 18% of the sample for Social Functioning. Depression was significantly predicted by two variables (number of AEDs and processing speed). There were no significant predictors of social functioning. Depression had a significant moderation effect on the effect of processing speed standard scores on social functioning. These findings highlight the importance of research identifying risk factors with greater specificity for poorer outcomes relating to quality of life in pediatric epilepsy patients. It also highlights the potential utility of knowing a patient’s use of AEDs for long-term treatment and the presence of low processing speed skills in order to identify possible risk of depressive symptoms.