Understanding enacted and felt stigma in temporal lobe epilepsy

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Psychiatry
• Epilepsy Research

Background:

• Self-stigma in epilepsy, encompassing enacted and felt stigma, significantly impacts individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).
• TLE patients often experience challenges affecting self-perception and social interaction.
• Understanding factors contributing to stigma is crucial for improving patient well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the contributing factors to enacted and felt stigma in patients with TLE.
• To explore the roles of objective and subjective cognitive functions in stigma.
• To examine the influence of biopsychosocial factors on self-stigma in TLE.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 249 epilepsy patients (169 TLE, 80 other epilepsies) underwent comprehensive evaluations.
• Methods included video-electroencephalogram, neuroimaging, neuropsychological, and psychiatric assessments.
• Multivariate regression analysis was employed to evaluate the dataset.

Main Results:

• In TLE patients, female sex, longer epilepsy duration, higher seizure worry, and lower social functioning increased enacted and felt stigma.
• Higher verbal intelligence quotient (IQ), depression, and poor social support were associated with increased enacted stigma.
• Predictors explained 40% of enacted stigma variance and 37% of felt stigma variance.

Conclusions:

• Verbal IQ emerged as a significant predictor of enacted stigma in TLE.
• Seizure-related worry demonstrated a strong association with felt stigma among TLE patients.
• These findings highlight distinct cognitive and psychosocial influences on different facets of self-stigma in TLE.