Behavioral and emotional problems in children with epilepsy

The principal purpose of this study was to assess behavioral and emotional problems in children with epilepsy to investigate if specific behavioral and emotional problems are associated with specific medical epilepsy-related factors. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used to assess parent-reported behavioral and emotional problems in 108 5- to 18-year-old children with various epilepsy syndromes. Specific medical epilepsy-related factors, such as etiology, age at onset, seizure symptoms, prognosis, seizure frequency, electroencephalography (EEG), and anticonvulsive therapy, were recorded during a regular follow-up examination in our pediatric outpatient epilepsy clinic, and 22.2% of our patients showed moderate to severe behavioral or emotional problems as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist total score. Higher Child Behavior Checklist scores were associated with such specific medical epilepsy-related factors as etiology, age at onset, and polypharmacy. Higher scores on the Social Problem scale were associated with symptomatic epilepsy syndromes and an earlier age at onset. Higher scores on the Social Problems, Attention Problems, and Aggressive Behavior scales were associated with anticonvulsive polytherapy. There were no statistically significant associations between the Child Behavior Checklist scores and seizure symptoms and frequency and EEG at the time of evaluation. The demonstrated frequency of behavioral and emotional problems in children with epilepsy suggests the necessity to address psychosocial issues during the course of clinical treatment.