Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
PhD student in Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, Roudhan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Roudhen Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author). , a2_taheri@yahoo.com
3
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Roudhen Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
4
Professor, Neurological Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Purpose: Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder characterized by frequent and spontaneous seizures that are not well controlled with current medications. The aim of the present study is to investigate the mediator role of alexithymia in explaining the effect of perceived social support and childhood trauma on the psychological distress of patients with epilepsy.
Materials and Methods: This study is descriptive in terms of its practical purpose and data collection method, correlation method. The statistical population of the current research is Iranian epilepsy patients in Iran in 2019-2021. According to the number of variables and paths, a total of 260 subjects are required to perform the structural equations test. A simple random sampling method was used. Data collection tools were Toronto TAS-20, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Perceived Social Support Scale, Perceived Social Support Scale. The data were analyzed in Amus24 and SPSS24 statistical software and structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings: Alexithymia mediates the effect of childhood trauma on psychological distress in a positive way and the effect of perceived social support on psychological distress in patients with epilepsy in a negative and significant manner.
Conclusion: Researchers and therapists in the field of clinical and health psychology, doctors, nurses, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, social workers and counselors should consider these components in their epilepsy patients based on the results of this research.
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