Behavioral problems and social competence in children with epilepsy.

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate relationships between seizure type in general, degree of interictal limbic system dysfunction in particular, and social competence and behavioral pathology in children with temporal lobe (n=21), primary generalized (n=21), and focal nontemporal epilepsies (n=14). The three groups were closely matched on several variables and compared on the mean Aggression, Total Social Competence, and Total Behavior Problems scale scores derived from a standardized behavioral rating instrument (The Child Behavior Profile). On the Aggression scale , the focal nontemporal group scored significantly lower than the temporal lobe group but did not differ significantly from patients with primary generalized epilepsy. On the Total Behavior Problems and Total Social Competence scales, the three seizure groups did not differ significantly from one another. The results are discussed in terms of the psychologic risk for specific behavioral problems associated with epilepsies varying in their probability of interictal disruption of limbic system functioning.