Abstracts

Parents of children with epilepsy and Intellectual Disability (ID) report that their children have significant behavior problems. Past research shows that the level of family stress and child behavior problems are related, however the nature of this relationship is not well understood. In order to better understand the complex interaction of family stress and child behavior problems, this study describes the behavior problems of children with epilepsy and ID and parental perception of their child[apos]s behavior problems. Qualitative naturalistic inquiry was used to describe naturally occurring phenomena. Participants were 20 parents of children (9-16 years, mean = 12.2) who had at least two seizures a year or were on anti-epilepsy medications, and had an IQ between 55 and 75. Open-ended interviews were conducted with parents to explore the problems they experienced while raising their children. Interviews lasted about 1 hour, were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Each interview was analyzed for within-case themes. After interviews were analyzed individually, themes were compared across cases to identify commonalities. Two researchers reviewed each interview and agreement was reached on themes The most common problem behaviors were: (1) attention problems, (2) inappropriate behavior in public including temper tantrums, (3) poor socialization skills including inability to make friends, and (4) violent behavior including injuries to self and others. Parent themes regarding behavior were (1) I recognize and can manage my child[apos]s behavior, (2) my child[apos]s behaviors are just part of life, (3) my child[apos]s behaviors problems are because of others[apos] actions and (4) my child[apos]s behavior problems are a result of seizures. Only one family out of 20 stated that there were no behavior problems. This study describes specific behavior problems that children experience and parental perceptions regarding the behavior. Child behaviors ranged from attention problems to violent behavior and family themes ranged from recognition of the problem to blaming the problem on outside events. Future studies should address the underlying causes of the behavior problems in these children with the goal of intervening to reduce or eliminate these problem areas. In addition, clinicians should be assessing for behavior problems in children with epilepsy and low IQ. (Supported by NR 04536 and NR 005035v