Most children not only suffer from repeated seizures, but also experience a series of mental health and academic achievement problems that can negatively impact their quality of life through adulthood. People with epilepsy during childhood are four times more likely to be unemployed or underemployed as adults. Research on children with epilepsy traditionally has focused on biomedical factors, such as causes of seizures and medical treatments. Dr. Austin indicated, however, that controlling seizures is not the complete answer, because over half of the patients have mental health problems, and two-thirds have academic problems, even the great majority of them who have normal intelligence. Her research focuses on these areas in order to improve quality of life.
Epilepsy poses serious challenges for children.
These young people, particularly girls, often have a poor self-concept and a high level of anxiety caused, among other things, by the stigma attached to the disease. Moreover, children continue to have serious quality of life problems even after their seizures have stopped. Another issue is that poor academic achievement in boys may not be reversed once epilepsy is outgrown. Nonetheless, there is evidence of protective factors, since some children do well. Dr. Austin s research is aimed at discovering these protective factors and whether they can be replicated in children who lack them.