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. 2022 Sep 21:10:948286.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.948286. eCollection 2022.

The impact of parenting stress on parents of school-age children with drug-resistant epilepsy

Hsin-Hui Lu  1   2 , Chun-Yu Tsai  1 , I-Ching Chou  3   4 , Jeng-Dau Tsai  5   6
Affiliations

The impact of parenting stress on parents of school-age children with drug-resistant epilepsy

Hsin-Hui Lu et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: Psychological burdens can affect the quality of life among parents of children with epilepsy, especially parents of children with poor seizure control. The impact of stress on the parents of children with epilepsy is significantly comorbid with their children's cognitive dysfunction and the severity of epilepsy. The aim of this study was to assess the stress levels of parents of school-age children with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) and controlled-epilepsy after considering the children's cognitive ability.

Methods: The study participants consisted of 35 children with typical development in the control group, 25 in the controlled-epilepsy group, 26 in the DRE group, and their parents. We used the Chinese version of the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) to measure the stress levels of all parents; and the Wechsler intelligence scale for children-fourth edition (WISC-IV) Chinese version to assess the children's cognition levels.

Results: Parenting stress was significantly higher among the parents of children with DRE than of those in the control and controlled-epilepsy group. The PSI's child domain showed statistically significant subscales of adaptability, acceptability, demandingness, and distractibility/hyperactivity. Moreover, the high-risk ratio on the acceptability, adaptability, demandingness, and distractibility/hyperactivity subscales were also higher for the DRE group than for the controlled-epilepsy group and for the control group.

Conclusion: Seizure severity significantly influences parenting stress after considering cognitive dysfunction in children with epilepsy. Therefore, pediatricians and clinicians should consider epilepsy-specific stress in parents of children with DRE.

Keywords: cognitive dysfunction; drug-resistant epilepsy; epilepsy-specific stress; parenting stress index; school age.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Percentages of ≧80, 70–79, 55–69, and 45–54 in groups of controls, controlled epilepsy (CE), and drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Raw scores of PSI-Total (A), PSI-Child (B), and PSI-Parent (C). Mean are presented as red square. CE: controlled-epilepsy; DRE: drug-resistant epilepsy. The results of the Scheffe’s post hoc tests are marked; **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Percentile rank (PR) scores for PSI-Total (A), PSI-Child (B), and PSI-Parent (C). Mean are presented as red square. CE, controlled-epilepsy; DRE, drug-resistant epilepsy. The results of the Scheffe’s post hoc tests are marked; **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
High risk ratios (HRR) of PSI-Child and subscales. CE, controlled-epilepsy; DRE, drug-resistant epilepsy. The results of the Scheffe’s post hoc tests are marked; *p < 0.05 and ***p < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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