Project 467188

Epilepsy is a common neurologic condition defined by spontaneous, recurrent seizures. The literature shows that children with epilepsy (CWE) are at risk for psychological disorders, including depression and anxiety, and behavioural and cognitive impairments. These comorbidities are often unrecognized during epilepsy management, which can negatively affect the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of CWE. Thus, medical treatment of epilepsy alone is not sufficiently addressing the complex needs of CWE. One systematic review found that mindfulness-based interventions among adults with epilepsy improved HRQOL, suggesting that these programs may also be effective in CWE. Making Mindfulness Matter (M3) is a new mindfulness-based program that will be evaluated in CWE. Making Mindfulness Matter in Children with Epilepsy (M3-E) is an ongoing pilot trial aimed at assessing the feasibility of implementing M3 as an intervention. The M3 program is delivered online by non-clinician staff over an 8-week period. The target sample size is 100 participants recruited from pediatric neurology practices in London and Windsor. The objective of this thesis project is to use data from M3-E to determine the effect of M3 on the HRQOL of CWE. HRQOL will be evaluated using the parent-reported 55-item Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire, which is completed 0-2 weeks before the intervention and 1-week post-intervention. Linear mixed models will be used to compare mean scores of the intervention and control groups at follow-up. We hypothesize that the M3-E results will show an improvement in the HRQOL of CWE. To our knowledge, M3 is the first mindfulness-based program used in CWE. The preliminary findings of this thesis project will inform subsequent research using the M3 program.