Prevalence of Anxiety, Stress and Depressive Symptoms Among Mothers of Children With Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a chronic disease that affects the behavior and cognitive performance of children. In many cases, the emotional impacts of epilepsy on the family are neglected. Besides the emotional distress, recurrent seizures may lead to irreversible effects on family members, especially parents. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety, stress and depressive disorders among mothers of children with epilepsy. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 mothers of children with epilepsy. Depression, stress, and anxiety were evaluated using the depression anxiety stress scales (DASS). Data were analyzed by SPSS version 17 and the statistical test of ANOVA. In this study, 14%, 33%, 8% and 20% of the mothers had mild, moderate, severe and very severe levels of anxiety, respectively. As far as the stress is concerned, 8%, 26%, 7% and 11% of the mothers had mild, moderate, severe and very severe levels of stress, respectively. Regarding the depression, 7%, 42%, and 1% of them had mild, moderate and severe level of depression, respectively. The results of the present study showed a significant correlation between mother’s education with stress and depression. However, no significant correlation was observed between the three aforementioned problems and children’s personal and familial specifications.