Poster #195 - Keeping the Peace: Language and Social Problem Solving in Children with Epilepsy

• In Event: 1-169 - Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Section - Social Cognition

Integrative Statement

Epilepsy, the most prevalent neurological disorder in children, is characterized by recurring seizures (Fisher et al., 2005; Plioplys, et al., 2007). Of particular interest in this population are the difficulties with social competence reported by parents and teachers (Jakovljević & Martinović, 2006; Rantanen et al., 2008). Poor social competence can lead to poor peer relationships, which can in turn impact emotional well-being (Weiner, 2004).
The ability to resolve social conflicts (social problem solving) contributes to overall social competence (Caplan et al., 1991; Yeates, 2004). Children with epilepsy are not the only population known to have challenges in the social domain; research demonstrates that children with language problems have poorer overall social problem solving and social competence compared to their peers (McCabe & Meller, 2004; Marton, et al., 2005). Deficits in language competence is a critical contributor to the social difficulties that children with language problems experience (Im-Bolter et al., 2013). Given that epilepsy is associated with language problems (Caplan et al., 2009), it is of interest to compare the social problem solving ability of children with epilepsy to children with language problems. If children with epilepsy struggle with social problem solving to the same degree as children with language problems, it would suggest that difficulties in this area might simply be a result of their poor language skills. However, if children with epilepsy have worse social problem solving skills than children with language problems, it would suggest that other factors specific to epilepsy contribute to their deficits in this area.
The current study included three groups of children between the ages of 6 and 12 years, comparable for age, nonverbal intelligence, and socioeconomic status; 1) six children with epilepsy (EP; 4 boys; Mage = 9.81 years, SD = 2.23 years), 2) 14 children with language problems (LP; 9 boys; Mage = 9.84, SD = 2.23 years), and 3) 15 children with typical development (TD; 8 boys; Mage = 9.93 years, SD = 1.88 years). Children were administered measures of language competence and social problem solving ability. The EP group demonstrated language comparable to the LP group and both groups performed worse than the TD group. Both the LP and TD groups outperformed the EP group on the social problem-solving measure. Epilepsy diagnosis contributed the most unique variance to social problem solving performance, followed by language and then age (21%, 18%, and 12%).
Our results are consistent with previous research that establishes the importance of language for social problem solving (McCabe & Meller, 2004), but also indicate that the diagnosis of epilepsy may be a critical contributor to deficits in the social domain. Epilepsy related factors (e.g., stigmatization, age of onset, seizure frequency), as well as other cognitive deficits associated with epilepsy (e.g., executive function) could contribute to the social problem solving difficulties demonstrated by the children with epilepsy in our study.

Authors

• Katharine Bailey, Queen's University/Trent University
  Presenting Author

• Hailey Collins, Trent University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nancie Im-Bolter, Trent University
  Non-Presenting Author