Increased psychopathology associated with multiple seizure types: fact or artifact?

Previous investigations have reported that individuals with complex partial seizures (CPS) who also have experienced other types of seizures manifested more psychopathology than individuals with CPS who experienced only that type of seizure. These previous studies failed to match their seizure subgroups on important variables known to bear significant relationships with psychopathology, and the possibility that the previous results were due to artifact cannot be excluded. Thirty-three individuals with CPS only were compared to 34 individuals with both complex partial and secondarily generalized attacks (CPS/SG). The groups were closely matched on several potentially confounding variables and compared on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) measures of overall psychopathology, aggression, and psychosis. The CPS/SG group manifested significantly more psychopathology on all the MMPI measures and it was concluded that the multiple seizure type effect is real and robust. These findings were related to the larger epilepsy/ psychopathology literature.