Role of child-mother interaction in predicting competence of children with epilepsy.

Child-mother interaction in two problem-solving situations was observed in 59 children with epilepsy aged 7-13 years and was related to their psychosocial adjustment in school and in an independent problem-solving activity. Mothers' support for their child's task completion, the availability of affective expressions in the interaction, and the child's self-reliance in interacting with the mother were significantly correlated with the adjustment measures. Factor scores based on the ratings of child-mother interaction accounted for significant increments in the adjustment measures after child age, gender, IQ, epilepsy variables, and family life stress were partialled out. The results support the view that child-parent relationships are important predictors of adjustment for children with epilepsy.