Temperament and psychopathological vulnerability in children with idiopathic epilepsy: a case control study

This study investigates the relationship between temperament and psychopathology in children with idiopathic epilepsy (CWIE). The parents of 42 children between 4 and 12 yr of age with idiopathic epilepsy were administered the Child Behavior Checklist to assess their children’s behavior and the Italian Questionnaires about temperament to assess their temperament. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to compare the results with those of two control groups, one consisting of 62 children (aged 5–12 yr) with primary migraine (CWPM), the other of 74 children (aged 3–11 yr) who underwent neuropsychiatric assessment for emotional distress. The temperamental dimension of inhibition to novelty was found significant in predicting problems of internalizing behavior in both CWIE and CWPM, while externalizing behavior issues were predicted by the negative emotionality dimension in CWIE and by the inhibition to novelty and motor activity dimensions in CWPM. The results of this study suggest that temperament is one of the predictors of the onset of psycho-behavioral disorders in CWIE.