1. LIfe SatIsfactIon and COPE of Mothers wIth EpIleptIc ChIldren
Hatice BAŞKALE*
Bengü ÇETİNKAYA
Sibel Serap CEYLAN
Pamukkale University
Faculty of Health Sciences
Denizli-TÜRKİYE

2. Childhood chronic illnesses negatively affect the quality of life and satisfaction with life of the family.
"Satisfaction with life" is the situation or result obtained by comparing a person's expectations (what he wants) with what he has. In other words, it is the result of someone's expectations compared to the real situation.

3. Epilepsy not only affect the epileptic person, but also the family.
Psychosocial and economic problems, anxiety, depression, sleeping problems, familial problems and decreas quality of life are seen in families of children with epilepsy.
Even the fear that the child will have a seizure negatively affects the daily life of the family

4. Epilepsy causes parents to experience financial difficulties, weaken interpersonal relationships, social isolation and stigmatization
Mothers may limit own and their children's life because of lack of information or wrong attitudes about the disease

5. Sometimes parents of children with epilepsy and other chronic neurological conditions may experience low levels of confidence in their parenting abilities.
In short, the parents have to cope with the child's chronic illnesses and difficulties.
"Coping" can be defined as all of the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses that the individual demonstrates to resist and respond to stressful events or factors.

6. It has been determined in other studies that parents of children with chronic illness use self-reliance, optimistic approach and social support as effective methods to cope with stress.
Parental emotional coping behavior is a form of ineffective coping as it increases parental stress.
The families of children with epilepsy and other chronic diseases need psychosocial support.

7. Epileptic children can also be affected positively when family members have a higher life satisfaction and better cope with problems.
Determining the life satisfaction and coping behaviors of the mothers may contribute to developing comprehensive strategies and creating a holistic perspective.

8. AIm
The aim of this study was to determine the satisfaction with life and
COPE of the mother who has the epileptic child

9. MaterIals and Methods
Design
Descriptive study

10. Setting and sample
Mothers of children who have been diagnosed with epilepsy for at least 6 months and who do not require heavy mental and physical care were taken for the study.
Patients with other underlying neurological, metabolic, and genetic diseases were not included in the study.
The sample was consisted of mothers who applied to a state and university hospital in Denizli for epilepsy.
The data were collected in pediatric neurology services and EEG room.

11. Instruments Sociodemographic Information Form
This form consists of 15 questions that include;
Child age,
Gender,
Age of diagnosis ,
Seizure frequency,
Educational status of parents,
Mother occupation
Socio-economic status.

12. COPE (Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced)
The COPE (Carver et al., 1989) is a 60-item self-report questionnaire which incorporates 15 distinct scales, each composed of four items:
Active coping (taking active steps to circumvent the stressor),
Planning (thinking about how to cope with a stressor),
Suppression of competing activities (trying to avoid becoming distracted by other things),
Restraint coping (waiting until an appropriate opportunity to act presents itself),
Seeking social support for instrumental reasons (seeking advice, assistance or information),
Seeking social support for emotional reasons (getting moral support),
Focusing on and venting of emotion (ventilating feelings),
Behavioral disengagement (reducing one’s effort to deal with the stressor),
Mental disengagement (distracting from thinking about the problem),
Alcohol and drug disengagement (alcohol and drug use),
Denial (denying the presence of the stress),
Positive reinterpretation and growth (construing a stress transaction in positive terms),
Acceptance (accepting reality),
Turning to religion and humor (turning the situation to ridicule).

13. Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)
The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) is a 5-item Likert-type scale intended to evaluate a person’s judgment about their overall satisfaction with life.
According to the authors of the SWLS, «the scale is designed around the idea that one must ask subjects for an overall judgment of their life in order to measure the concept of life satisfaction».
In completing the SWLS, participants indicate their degree of agreement or disagreement on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree).
Scores on the scale range from 5 to 35, with higher scores indicating greater life satisfaction.

14. Data analysIs
Descriptive statistics, t test and Pearson's correlation analysis were used for data analyses on Predictive Analytics Software (PASW) 18 statistical program.
The normal distribution was determined by the Shapiro-Wilk test.
Significance value was accepted as alpha less than .05.

15. Characteristics
n (%)
Mean±SD, (min-max)
Child age
Child gender
Female
Male
28(46.7)
32(53.3)
8.44±5.26, (1-17)
Epilepsy diagnosis age (years)
3.93±4.02, (1-15)
Treatment time (years)
3.98±4.15, (1-15)
Seizure number (years)
5.86±7.04, (0-24)
Mother education
5 years
Above 5 years
36(60)
24(40)
Father education
26(43.3)
34(56.7)
Mother occupation
Occupied
Unoccupied
17(28.3)
43(71.7)
Father occupation
60(100) -
Presence of another person with epilepsy in the family
Yes No
12(20.0)
48(80.0)
Person with epilepsy in the family (n=12)
Father
Mother
Sibling
6(50.0)
2(16.7)
4(33.3)
Socio-economic status
Low
Medium
Upper
20(33.3)
40(66.7)
Results
The mean age of the children was 8.44 ± 5.26 and 53.3% of them were male. 60% of the mothers have studied for 5 years and 71.7% of them have a job. The vast majority of the mothers defined the economic condition of the family as medium (Table 1).
Table 1. Sociodemographic Characteristics of Participants (n=60)

16. SATISFACTION WITH LIFE
VARIABLES
SATISFACTION WITH LIFE
Epilepsy diagnosis age
r = -0.11
p =0.40
Seizure number (years)
r = -0.04
p = 0.75
Mother education Sd
5 years
18.25
6.97
Above 5 years
21.16
7.33 t
-1.55 p
0.12
Mother occupation
Occupied
19.00
7.54
Unoccupied
19.58
7.15
-0.27
0.78
Presence of another person with epilepsy in the family
Yes
5.84 No
19.70
-0.62
0.5
Socio-economic status
Low
15.30
5.47
Medium
21.47
7.13
-3.39
0.01*
Table 2. Distribution of the " Satisfaction With Life Scale" Score Averages with Some Variables
The average score of the " Satisfaction with Life Scale" of the mothers were ± There was no significant relationship between the scores and the diagnosis age, number of seizures, mother education, mother occupation, and the presence of another person with epilepsy in the family (p>0.05). Mothers whose economic status is moderate have higher average scores (p<0.05).
*:p<0.05

17. When the average scores of COPE scores were examined, it was found that the score of "Dysfunctional Coping" was the highest (Table 3). Mothers use the "dysfunctional coping" more often.
There were no significant relationships between the mean scores of «Satisfaction with Life Scale» and COPE subscale scores (p> 0.05).
Table 3. Distribution of Score Averages of the COPE
COPE Sd
Problem-Focused Coping
52.93
7.29
Emotion-Focused Coping
48.68
7.49
Dysfunctional Coping
53.90
7.87

18. ConclusIon
The results of this study showed that mothers often use positive reinterpretation coping strategies. The least strategies they use were problem-focused and emotion-focused coping. It was found that middle-income mothers’ satisfaction with life scores were higher.
In this study, satisfaction with life score average was determined as ± 7.20 (less satisfied with life).

19. There weren’t a significant relationship between the age of the diagnosis, the number of seizures, mother's education, occupation, and the presence of another person with epilepsy in the family and life satisfaction.
Similar results have been reported in other studies.
While some studies have found a relationship between parents' educational status and life satisfaction, some have not found such a relationship.

20. The results of this study may be helpful to identify the health and support needs and plan appropriate initiatives and trainings for families.
Determining the effective and ineffective coping strategies may guide the planning of appropriate initiatives to support the family's compliance.
Thus, the life satisfaction of the family can increase and they can develop positive coping behaviors with the child's illness.
As a result, children with epilepsy may also be easier to adapt disease and their quality of life increase.

21. Development of adaptation and coping systems of epileptic children and their families requires interdisciplinary study.
It is important for nurses and other health professionals to collaborate in family-oriented initiatives that may be affected by the child's illness in different ways.
For this reason, health professionals can plan training programs that increase knowledge about the disease, self-efficacy in the management of diseases and seizures, effective coping and life satisfaction.

22. PAMUKKALE TRAVERTENS DENİZLİ / TURKEY
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PAMUKKALE TRAVERTENS DENİZLİ / TURKEY