Effect of learning disabilities on academic self-concept in children with epilepsy and on their quality of life.
Learning disability, not seizure control, is the main drag on academic self-concept and quality of life in kids with epilepsy.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Brabcová et al. (2015) compared kids with epilepsy plus learning disability to kids with epilepsy alone. They asked: does the learning piece or the seizure piece hurt school self-concept and quality of life more?
They gave questionnaires about academic self-concept and life quality to both groups. Then they ran stats to see which factor—learning problems or seizure variables—predicted the lower scores.
What they found
The kids who had both epilepsy and learning disability scored much lower on academic self-concept and quality of life. The learning disability, not seizure frequency or age of onset, was the strongest predictor.
In plain words, the LD piece, not the epilepsy piece, drove the unhappy feelings about school and life.
How this fits with other research
McGarty et al. (2018) conceptually replicate the finding. They tracked middle-school students with any special-ed need and saw the same dip in academic self-concept in grade 6, though the gap shrank by grade 7. Together the studies say the LD label hurts school confidence across diagnoses.
Şahin et al. (2020) extend the picture. They looked at kids with specific learning disabilities in everyday settings and found lower participation at home, school, and in the community. The pattern is bigger than epilepsy; LD itself creates barriers.
Foti et al. (2015) supply the meta-analytic numbers behind the story. Their review shows children with reading disabilities score well below peers on memory, language, and behavior tests. Dana’s finding is the lived-out version: those cognitive gaps turn into “I’m bad at school” feelings.
Why it matters
If you work with students who have epilepsy, always screen for learning disability even if seizures are well controlled. Add explicit reading or math interventions, praise academic wins, and teach self-advocacy. Targeting the LD can lift both achievement and self-concept more than chasing seizure logs alone.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Academic self-concept could significantly affect academic achievement and self-confidence in children with epilepsy. However, limited attention has been devoted to determining factors influencing academic self-concept of children with epilepsy. We aimed to analyze potentially significant variables (gender, frequency of seizures, duration of epilepsy, intellectual disability, learning disability and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in relation to academic self-concept in children with epilepsy and to additional domains of their quality of life. The study group consisted of 182 children and adolescents aged 9-14 years who completed the SPAS (Student's Perception of Ability Scale) questionnaire determining their academic self-concept and the modified Czech version of the CHEQOL-25 (Health-Related Quality of Life Measure for Children with Epilepsy) questionnaire evaluating their health-related quality of life. Using regression analysis, we identified learning disability as a key predictor for academic-self concept of children with epilepsy. While children with epilepsy and with no learning disability exhibited results comparable to children without epilepsy, participants with epilepsy and some learning disability scored significantly lower in almost all domains of academic self-concept. We moreover found that children with epilepsy and learning disability have significantly lower quality of life in intrapersonal and interpersonal domains. In contrast to children with epilepsy and with no learning disability, these participants have practically no correlation between their quality of life and academic self-concept. Our findings suggest that considerable attention should be paid to children having both epilepsy and learning disability. It should comprise services of specialized counselors and teaching assistants with an appropriate knowledge of epilepsy and ability to empathize with these children as well as educational interventions focused on their teachers and classmates.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2015 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2015.07.018