The Mediating Roles of Family Resilience and Social Support in the Relationship Between Illness Severity and Depressive Symptoms Among Primary Caregivers of Children With Epilepsy in China

Abstract

PurposeThis study was designed to assess the effects of epilepsy severity, family resilience, and social support on depression in primary caregivers of children with epilepsy (CWE), and to test the mediating roles of family resilience and social support in this relationship.MethodTwo hundred fifty-two caregivers of children with epilepsy were recruited from October 2020 to May 2021. The questionnaire contained sociodemographic characteristics, Epilepsy Severity, Chinese-Family Resilience Assessment Scale (C-FRAS), Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Structural equation models were used to evaluate whether family resilience and social support as mediators between epilepsy severity and depression.ResultsIn this study, the prevalence of depressive symptoms among primary caregivers of CWE in China was 69.84%. Epilepsy severity was positively associated with depression. Family resilience and social support were negatively correlated with depressive symptoms (both p < 0.01). Furthermore, the fitness indices of structural models were satisfactory. The direct effect of epilepsy severity on depression was 0.266 (95% CI 0.064–0.458), this pathway explained 62.88% variance of depression. The indirect effect of family resilience and then social support was 0.069 (95% CI 0.025–0.176), indicating that the serial multiple mediation was significant. The serial mediation pathway explained 16.31% variance of depression.ConclusionsThe high incidence of depression among primary carers of CWE deserves more attention. They should be screened routinely, especially those parents of children with severe epilepsy. Family resilience and social support could be protective factors for caregivers' mental adjustment. Therefore, future psychosocial interventions for enhancing family resilience and social support should be implemented, in order to reduce their depression.

Current status and influencing factors of family resilience in families of children with epilepsy: a cross-sectional study

“…Moreover, this psychological distress was detrimental to the health-related quality of life of family members and family system ( 40 ), which was not conducive to the family resilience. However, when the levels of family resilience was high, it could promote the mobilization of social resources, which further reduced family members’ negative emotions and improved parental mental health ( 41 ). Given that the parents’ depression was a predictor for family resilience, this finding highlights the importance of screening the psychological distress and developing interventions to reduce depression among parents of CWE.…”

“…We would like to thank all the caregivers involved in this study. In addition, what we need to acknowledge is that portions of this data were previously presented at Frontiers in Neurology ( 41 ).…”

Finding family resilience in adversity: A grounded theory of families with children diagnosed with leukaemia

“…Our findings also support that adequate social support promotes family resilience. Quantitative studies have found that positive social interactions are positively associated with family resilience (Khatib et al, 2022), possibly because families who reported greater support received in positive social interactions would find relief from negative emotions (Wei et al, 2022) and more resources to cope with the challenges of illness (Karadag et al, 2013). The sharing of experiences among the parents in the hospital was regarded as an essential source of support.…”

Rhoifolin attenuates damage to hippocampal neuronal culture model of acquired epilepsy in vitro by regulating NF-κB/iNOS/COX-2 axis

“…Epilepsy is a chronic disease of sudden abnormal discharge of brain neurons, resulting in temporary brain dysfunction (Xu et al, 2022). The annual prevalence of active epilepsy with seizures is 4.6% (Wei et al, 2022). Globally, there are 5-6-million active epilepsy patients, with about 400,000 new epilepsy patients added annually (Liang et al, 2022).…”