Perceived Stigma in Children with Epilepsy

Abstract

Children with epilepsy are more likely to have poorer quality of life (QOL) than the general population. Stigma is a global phenomenon associated with several chronic diseases with great negative impact on patients and their families and deleterious consequences in their QOL. People with epilepsy report that stigma is one of the greatest challenges that they face. Adolescents can be mentally and emotionally fragile, therefore, epilepsy can stigmatize children and impair their independence, social abilities, peer relations, self-esteem, mood, and cognition during this turbulent stage of life. To develop and implement interventions to improve the psychosocial health of individuals with epilepsy, it is important for researchers and clinicians to understand the effects of the stigma accompanying epilepsy. Our previous study using Child Stigma Scale showed that children with frequent seizures perceived themselves as significantly more stigmatized compared to seizure-free children (p < 0.01). These findings suggest that a relationship may be seen between current seizure frequency and perceived stigma. On the other hand, the responses of children with epilepsy on the Child Stigma Scale were different depending on the localization of EEG paroxysmal abnormality (PA). The scores of all questions were significantly higher in the frontal group than those with PA in other regions (p < 0.01). Frontal EEG PA may function as a mediator of emotional responses such as stigma. Organizing children and adolescents support groups and effective educational intervention programs for children with and without epilepsy should be given priority in reduced stigma of children with epilepsy.