Abstracts

Rationale: This study investigated the relationship between parental stress and anxiety as well as the perception of resources utilized by parents of children with epilepsy, when socioeconomic status is a moderator. For parents and families, managing the diagnosis of epilepsy can be stressful, often requiring a greater use of resources within the family and community. An increase in awareness and effective utilization of resources can offer opportunities to improve the management of epilepsy and reduce parent stress. Methods: Sixty-four parents were recruited from an epilepsy clinic or a condition-specific camp and completed the Beck Anxiety Index (BAI), the Parenting Stress Index Short Form (PSI), and the Family Inventory of Resources for Management (FIRM). The FIRM measures six different domains and sums to a total resources score. The domains are: Esteem & Communication (respect and communication between family and friends), Mastery & Health (control over life-events and family cooperation), Social Support (help from relatives), Financial Well-Being (perception of availability of money in the present and future), Sources of Financial Support (sources of income), and Social Desirability (Outward perception of families success). Twenty-three of our parents had a low socioeconomic status (SES) and 17 of the parents in the study were single parents. All but four of the parents had completed high school and 24 had attended college. Raw total scores on the FIRM domains were converted to z-scores, which were then divided into two groups, less resources (a negative z-score) and more resources (a positive z-score). Kruskal-Wallis ANOVAs were used to analyze correlations. Results: Parenting Stress was significantly correlated (p<.01) to lower scores on the Esteem & Communication, Mastery & Health, Social Desirability, and Total Resources FIRM domains. Parental anxiety was significantly correlated (p<.01) to lower scores on the Esteem & Communication, Mastery & Health, and Total Resources FIRM domains (See Table). Sources of Social Support and perception of Financial Well-Being, however, were not found to impact anxiety or stress in parents. Only one parent scored low on the Sources of Financial Support domain and 12 of the 22 parents reporting less resources on the Financial Well-Being domain were from the low SES group. Conclusions: The results of our study highlight possible areas of intervention for families to manage epilepsy and reduce stress. Family communication, relationships with friends and relatives, and feelings of control over life and health matters are important sources of stress highlighted by this study. Our findings that perception of financial well-being did not greatly impact anxiety or stress were surprising, but it’s possible that the perception of financial problems impacts all families and is a very different factor than SES. Further studies are needed to assess parent perception of resources and identify potential targets for therapeutic intervention to reduce stress and increase feelings of control.