Behind the seizures: Exploring the emotional burden of adolescents with idiopathic generalized epilepsy

This exploratory cross-sectional multicenter study evaluated the presence of depression and anxiety traits in adolescents with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) and explored their association with epilepsy-related clinical variables. Sixty-eight patients aged 11–18 years with a confirmed IGE diagnosis participated. Emotional symptoms were assessed using the parent-reported Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the self-reported Psychiatric Scales for Self-Administration for Youths and Adolescents (SAFA). While no clinically significant deficits emerged on the overall CBCL or SAFA scores, 33% of patients showed clinically relevant anxiety traits, 31% showed depressive symptoms, and 19% reported clinically significant somatic complaints. Correlation analyses showed that somatic symptoms were significantly associated with epilepsy-related variables. Higher somatic symptom scores were related to a shorter time since the last seizure and a later age at epilepsy onset, while an inverse association was observed with epilepsy duration. These findings suggest that affective symptoms in adolescents with IGE are linked to specific clinical characteristics of epilepsy. The results highlight the importance of comprehensive emotional assessment and targeted psychological support for this population.