• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.92-109
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• 1996

The objectives of the present study were to provide comprehensive assessment of the impact of epilepsy on the psychological well-being of children with epilepsy and to identify the neurological factors associated with the psychopathology. The participant patients were recruited from the population of children and adolescent aged 7 to 16 attending the OPD of department of pediatric neurology in Seoul National University Hospital in Korea. We exclude mental retardation, pervasive developmental disorder and brain organic pathology. As control group, formal students were chosen and their sex, age, achievement, socioeconomic status were matched to patients. The first author interviewed the children and their family members and obtained the developmental history and family information. We used the following 10 scales for assessing psychological and behavioral problems in patients and their family member. The scales were standardized and their validity and reliability were confirmed before. Parent rating scales : Yale children's inventory, Disruptive behavior disorder scale, Parent's attitude to epilepsy questionnaire, Family environment scale, Symptom check-list-90 revision, Children behavior check-list. Children's self rating scales : Children's depression inventory, Spielberger's state-trait anxiety anxiety, Piers-Harris self-concept inventory and Self-administered Dependency questionnaire for Mother. The result showed the risk factors associated depression were early onset, complex partial seizure, lateralized temporal focal abnormality on EEG, Drug polypharmacy, high seizure frequency and sick factors associated anxiety were old age of patient, lateralized temporal focal abnormality EEG, Drug polypharmacy, high seizure frequency. Also the result of this present study indicated that risk factors associated oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were young age, male, early onset, lateral temporal EEG abnormality and high seizure frequency. According to these results, common risk factors associated psychological and behavioral problems were lateralized EEG temporal abnormality, high seizure frequency in neurological factors.