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Social difficulties in children with epilepsy: review and treatment recommendations

Elena Harlan Drewel1, Rochelle Caplan

  • 1Semel institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, CA, USA. edrewel@mednet.ucla.edu

Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics
|July 6, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Children with epilepsy face more social challenges. This review explores these difficulties, their causes, and interventions like social skills training for better outcomes in pediatric epilepsy.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Neurology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Social Sciences

Background:

  • Children with epilepsy exhibit a higher prevalence of social difficulties compared to their peers.
  • Understanding these social challenges is crucial for comprehensive care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify the specific social difficulties encountered by children with epilepsy.
  • To examine the risk factors contributing to these social challenges.
  • To review existing and potential interventions for improving social functioning.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic literature review.
  • Analysis of studies on social difficulties in pediatric epilepsy.
  • Categorization of risk factors and interventions.

Main Results:

  • Children with epilepsy experience a range of social difficulties.
  • Identified risk factors include seizure characteristics, comorbidities, and psychosocial factors.
  • Interventions such as social skills training, educational support, speech therapy, and psychopharmacotherapy show promise.

Conclusions:

  • Children with epilepsy require targeted support for social development.
  • Multifaceted interventions are likely most effective.
  • Further research is needed to refine and validate interventions for social difficulties in this population.

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