Depression and anxiety in children with benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BCECTS)

Elevated rates of affective disturbance in children with benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BCECTS) have been reported. However, it remains unclear how anxiety and depression are related to epilepsy, and it is unknown whether these mood disorders are influenced by the use of antiepileptic drugs. In the present report, we performed a prospective study designed to evaluate affective disorders (anxiety and depression) without the bias of antiepileptic drug treatment in 89 children with BCECTS, based on self-reporting. Furthermore, we sought to determine whether clinical factors, such as age, disease course, seizure frequency, and spike wave index (SWI), were related to the psychological profiles.

Patients with BCECTS (n = 89) and healthy matched controls (n = 75) were included in this study. The Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children (DSRSC) and the Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) were completed by the children.

None of the children met criteria for clinically significant anxiety or depression. However, the children with BCECTS had significantly higher depression and anxiety scores compared with children in the control group. We found no significant differences in depression or anxiety between the left, right, and bilateral lobe groups. The DSRSC scores were similar between the children with partial seizures and those with secondarily generalized seizures. Similarly, there were no significant differences in the SCARED scores between these two groups. However, the DSRSC and SCARED scores were positively correlated with age, seizure frequency, SWI, and disease course.

The children with BCECTS had an increased likelihood of depression and anxiety, and these higher rates were unrelated to seizure type or epileptic focus, but were positively correlated with age, seizure frequency, SWI, and disease course.