Parental stress in childhood epilepsy

Abstract

Background. Epilepsy is a common and persistent neurological disorder that typically affects children. In addition to the obvious physical and emotional outcomes for a child, epilepsy, like other chronic conditions, can have a profound impact on the well-being of family members. In order to comprehensively address and manage parental stress, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of the various factors involved.Objective: to determine the influence of parental stress on the course of epilepsy in children.Material and methods. A search for publications devoted to the study of parental stress in pediatric epilepsy in scientific databases PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, eLibrary identified 2670 articles. After the selection, 39 publications were included in the review.Results. There are a number of questionnaires that allow determining the level of parental stress: PSI, PSI-SF, PIP, IPES. They have shown their accuracy and have been validated in studies devoted to parental stress in parents of children with chronic diseases, including epilepsy. The relationship between the level of parental stress and the prognosis of epilepsy course, psychological state of children and the quality of life of parents was shown. The need for additional psychological support for parents of children with epilepsy was indicated. The feasibility of using biomarkers of brain damage in children as an additional tool for assessing the severity of parental stress was presented.Conclusion. Children with chronic conditions, such as epilepsy, and their families often face a number of interrelated problems. These include parental stress, difficulties in following treatment plans and adjusting to school, social discrimination. Despite the relevance of this issue, there are no large-scale, longitudinal studies examining stress in parents of children with epilepsy, so the relationship between epilepsy and parental stress is not fully understood. A collaborative approach is necessary, in which both the child and parents take responsibility for the treatment of the disease.