Social skills among epileptic adolescents

Background Epilepsy has been increasingly suspected as a risk factor for psychological, academic, and poor social skills in epileptic adolescents.Objective The aim of the study was to assess the social skills of epileptic adolescents and compare them with those in nonepileptic healthy adolescents.Participants and methods The social skills of 86 epileptic adolescents (12–18 years) were compared with those of 86 age-matched and sex-matched healthy adolescents. Social skills were assessed using the Arabic-translated form of the Social Skills Rating System questionnaire – both student form (39 questions) and parent form (52 questions).Results The mean scores of the ‘student form’ subscales (cooperation, assertion, empathy, and self-control) and the mean scores of the ‘parent form’ subscales (cooperation, assertion, responsibility, self-control, externalizing behavior, and internalizing behavior) were highly significantly lower in epileptic compared with nonepileptic adolescents (P < 0.01). The mean scores of all student form subscales were highly significantly lower in epileptic adolescents with partial seizures with secondary generalization, with generalized tonic clonic seizures, and in those on polytherapy medications (P < 0.01). The mean scores of cooperation, assertion, and empathy of the student form subscales were highly significantly lower in epileptic adolescents with seizure frequency of greater than 4 per year. There was no significant difference in the mean scores of the student form subscales with respect to sex or residence of the epileptic adolescents.Conclusion Epileptic adolescents have poor social skills that require early assessment and intervention.