Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Emotional/behavioral disorders are often comorbid with childhood epilepsy, but both may be predicted by social disadvantage and fetal risk indicators (FRIs). We used data from a British birth cohort, to assess the association of epilepsy, single unprovoked seizures, and febrile seizures with the later development of emotional/behavioral problems.A total of 17,416 children in the 1958 British birth cohort were followed up until age 16 years. Logistic and modified Poisson regression models were used to determine a) the association of social disadvantage at birth and FRI with epilepsy, single unprovoked seizures, and febrile seizures at 7 years, and emotional/behavioral disorders in later childhood, and (ii) the association of childhood seizures by age 7 years with emotional/behavioral disorders in later childhood, after accounting for social disadvantage and FRI.Higher scores on FRI and social disadvantage were associated with emotional/behavioral problems at 7, 11, and 16 years, but not with seizure disorders at age 7 years. Epilepsy was associated with emotional/behavioral problems at 7 years (odds ratio [OR] = 2.50, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.29-4.84), 11 years (OR = 2.00, 95% CI = 1.04-3.81), and 16 years (OR = 5.47, 95% CI = 1.65-18.08), whereas single unprovoked seizures were associated with emotional/behavioral problems at 16 years (OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.02-2.01), after adjustment for FRI and social disadvantage. Febrile convulsions were not associated with increased risk for emotional/behavioral problems.Emotional/behavioral problems in children are related to an earlier diagnosis of epilepsy and single unprovoked seizures after accounting for social disadvantage and FRI, whereas febrile convulsions are not associated with emotional/behavioral problems.

Original publication

DOI

10.1097/psy.0000000000000305

Type

Journal article

Journal

Psychosomatic medicine

Publication Date

06/2016

Volume

78

Pages

620 - 628

Addresses

From the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (Kariuki, Newton), Kilifi, Kenya; Department of Psychiatry (Newton), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; and Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (Prince, Das-Munshi), King's College London, London, UK.

Keywords

Humans, Epilepsy, Seizures, Seizures, Febrile, Pregnancy Complications, Risk, Longitudinal Studies, Child Behavior, Single Parent, Housing, Pregnancy, Social Class, Poverty, Adolescent, Child, Infant, Low Birth Weight, Infant, Premature, Vulnerable Populations, Female, Male, Problem Behavior, United Kingdom