Depression and anxiety in mothers of children with epilepsy

ABSTRACT DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY IN MOTHERS OF CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY Epilepsy is chronic neurologic disease that is caused by central nervous system dysfunction which manifests with repetitive seizures. It is the most common neurological disorder seen in children and adolescents. Seizures are the fundamental symptom. Epilepsy is a chronic disease which effects cognitive and behavioural functions. The effect of epilepsy is not only on the child, the whole family can be effected by the disease. Social status, academic unsuccess and the unkown time of seizures present a hard challenge for both the child and family. When a member of the family has a disease the whole family is affected. A child being diagnosed with a chronic disease means psycosocial and mental risks for the parents in the long term. The purpose of our study is to determine the effect of epilepsy on the parents' psychological (depression and anxiety) profile. 100 epileptic children and 100 healthy (control group) children families were taken into our study. The families were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory. Results were evaluated by a psychiatry specialist. Beck depression scores in the study group 15.04±11.08, 13.90±10.77 in the control group were found . In the study group was higher than the mean score of the control group, although there were no statistically significant differences in terms of depression ( p>0.05). Beck mean anxiety score in the study group 12.61±10.50, 8.17±5.36 in the control group were found between the two groups revealed no statistically significant differences in terms of anxiety (p <0.05). The results of the STAI 1 test which assesses situational anxiety showed that the study groups had a value of 42.89±7.95, control group had 41.20±7.35. Situational anxiety difference was not found between the groups (p>0,05). The results of the STAI 2 test which checks for continuous anxiety showed the control group to have a value of 50.05±6.93, the control group 46.86±6.37, thus there was significant difference between the two groups for continuous anxiety (p<0.05). As a result, epilepsy is a chronic disease which affects the whole families' mental health, lowers their quality of life and disrupts their psychological profile. Families should be encouraged to have psychological support. Key words: Epilepsy, mother, depression and anxiety