Identifying risk factors for maternal depression in families of adolescents with epilepsy.

Issues And Purpose: To investigate factors associated with depressive symptoms in mothers of children with chronic seizure disorders.

Design And Methods: A cross-sectional correlational design was used with a sample of 115 mother-child dyads in families where the child had chronic epilepsy.

Results: A three-factor model consisting of family income, satisfaction with family relationships, and presence of child behavior problems explained 32% of the variance in maternal depressive symptoms.