Social Cognition in Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Epilepsy

Pastorino, Grazia Maria Giovanna; Operto, Francesca Felicia; Padovano, Chiara; Vivenzio, Valentina; Scuoppo, Chiara; Pastorino, Nazareno; Roccella, Michele; Vetri, Luigi; Carotenuto, Marco; Coppola, Giangennaro

doi:10.3389/fneur.2021.658823

Cited by 32 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…The second one is that seizures themselves can lead to the construction of inadequate cortical networks, involving the limbic and frontocentral cortex (20). Moreover, it must be considered that epilepsy is more often associated with impairments of the cognitive profile, executive functions, social cognition, and learning skills that could lead to social and scholastic difficulties (21)(22)(23)(24)(25). Finally, social stigma can further contribute to increasing the emotional burden in young people with epilepsy (26).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychiatric Symptoms and Parental Stress in Children and Adolescents With Epilepsy

et al. 2021

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Introduction: The aim of this study was to identify the presence of emotional and behavioral symptoms in children and adolescents with epilepsy, to measure the stress levels in their parents, and to determine if and how parental stress was linked to emotional and behavioral symptoms of their children.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study including 103 children and adolescents with different form of epilepsy and 93 sex-/age-matched controls. Parental stress and emotional and behavioral symptoms were assessed through two standardized questionnaires: the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), respectively. We also considered the following variables: age, sex, maternal education level, family history of psychiatric disorders, duration of epilepsy, seizure frequency, seizure type, and number of antiseizure medications.Results: The statistical comparison showed that the epilepsy group obtained significantly higher scores than controls in almost all the CBCL and the PSI scales (p < 0.05). The correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between the PSI Total Stress scale and the following CBCL scales: total problems, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems (p < 0.05). An earlier age of seizure onset was related to a greater presence of externalizing problems, total problems, and total stress (p < 0.05).Conclusion: In the epilepsy group, we found higher levels of parental stress and higher presence of emotional and behavioral symptoms compared to controls, mainly represented by internalizing problems (anxiety and depression symptoms). Therefore, it is important to precociously detect these symptoms and monitor them over time, in order to prevent psychiatric problems. In addition, parents of children with epilepsy should be offered psychological support to cope with parental stress and to improve the relationship with their children.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychiatric Symptoms and Parental Stress in Children and Adolescents With Epilepsy

et al. 2021

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“…Given the findings reported by Toller et al ( 47 ), studies with larger subgroups should further investigate affective empathy in relation to the epileptogenic focus, regarding both actual lateralization and hemispheric dominance. Finally, due to the uncertain nature of seizure frequency variables obtained from patient history, we were not able to examine the relationship between seizure frequency and affective empathy or ToM, which has previously been postulated ( 22 , 23 ). This important aspect should be investigated with the help of digital seizure diaries or seizure frequency data from monitoring devices.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Patients whose epilepsy began at an early age may show more marked impairment in ToM than those with a later disease onset ( 20 , 21 ). Children with epilepsy also show deficits in ToM relative to healthy controls ( 22 ), and ToM deficits are potentially related to seizure frequency in both children and adolescents ( 22 , 23 ). While it may not be feasible to measure ToM and affective empathy separately, some tests favor the measurement of more cognitive processes, while others preferably tap the emotional response to another person's distress.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Affective Empathy, Theory of Mind and Social Functioning in Patients With Focal Epilepsy

et al. 2022

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ObjectiveSocial cognition comprises basic and more complex functions, such as theory of mind (ToM) and affective empathy. Although everyday social interactions may be impaired if such higher-order social cognitive functions are compromised, associations between social functioning and social cognition in people with focal epilepsy (PWFE) are still poorly understood. We used a novel, naturalistic approach to investigate ToM in PWFE by applying the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC). Furthermore, we studied affective empathy, the relationship between social cognitive parameters and measures of social functioning, as well as between epilepsy focus and ToM.MethodsThirty patients with either temporal (TLE) or frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) were compared to 29 healthy control subjects (HC). In addition to the MASC, we applied questionnaire measures assessing empathy and everyday social functioning.ResultsPWFE, especially with FLE, performed significantly worse than HC on the MASC. Perceived social integration and social activities, but not affective empathy, were reduced in PWFE. Regression analyses revealed associations between perceived social integration, clinical group status, affective empathy and ToM.ConclusionPWFE displayed ToM deficits during a naturalistic task, whereas affective empathy was unimpaired. FLE may be associated with especially compromised ToM performance. Social cognition and social functioning appear to be interrelated in PWFE, whose self-perceived levels of social integration and social activities are lower than those of HC. More research into the association between social cognition and social functioning in PWFE is needed, in order to develop tailored intervention programs for these patients.

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“…Research in the literature shows that in subjects with ASD there is an impairment of adaptive abilities which can increase with growth and can be present regardless of intellectual level (Kanne et al, 2011;Chatham et al, 2018;Precenzano et al, 2020;Pastorino et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive Behavior, Emotional/Behavioral Problems and Parental Stress in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

et al. 2021

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Background: The aim of our study was to compare adaptive skills, emotional/behavioral problems, and parental stress among children with different severity levels of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptoms.Methods: This study included a sample of 88 subjects with ASD (mean age = 6.00 ± 2.70). All subjects underwent standardized neuropsychological tests for the assessment of symptoms of the autism spectrum (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition), adaptive level (The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Survey Interview, 2nd edition), behavioral and emotional problems (Child Behavior CheckList CBCL), and parental stress (Parental Stress Index Short Form-PSI-SF). Non-parametric statistical methods (Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U-test for post hoc analysis) and linear regression analysis were used in this study.Results:Children who had higher severity levels of ASD symptoms had less adaptive functioning; younger children showed more severe symptoms of ASD; older children had better communication skills. The presence of greater adaptive difficulties was related to a greater presence of internalizing problems. An increase in parental stress levels was related to an higher severity of ASD symptoms, fewer adaptive skills, and a greater presence of internalizing and externalizing problems.Conclusion: This study suggests that the adaptive behavior should be considered in order to planning a habilitation intervention in children with autism. It is also important to monitor emotional/behavioral problems and parental stress levels in order to provide parenting support and improve the family quality of life.

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Social Cognition in Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Epilepsy

Cited by 32 publications

References 41 publications

Psychiatric Symptoms and Parental Stress in Children and Adolescents With Epilepsy

Psychiatric Symptoms and Parental Stress in Children and Adolescents With Epilepsy

Affective Empathy, Theory of Mind and Social Functioning in Patients With Focal Epilepsy

Adaptive Behavior, Emotional/Behavioral Problems and Parental Stress in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

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