Psychological burdens can affect the quality of life among parents of children with epilepsy, especially parents of children with poor seizure control. The impact of stress on the parents of children with epilepsy is significantly comorbid with their children’s cognitive dysfunction and the severity of epilepsy. The aim of this study was to assess the stress levels of parents of school-age children with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) and controlled-epilepsy after considering the children’s cognitive ability.

The study participants consisted of 35 children with typical development in the control group, 25 in the controlled-epilepsy group, 26 in the DRE group, and their parents. We used the Chinese version of the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) to measure the stress levels of all parents; and the Wechsler intelligence scale for children-fourth edition (WISC-IV) Chinese version to assess the children’s cognition levels.

Parenting stress was significantly higher among the parents of children with DRE than of those in the control and controlled-epilepsy group. The PSI’s child domain showed statistically significant subscales of adaptability, acceptability, demandingness, and distractibility/hyperactivity. Moreover, the high-risk ratio on the acceptability, adaptability, demandingness, and distractibility/hyperactivity subscales were also higher for the DRE group than for the controlled-epilepsy group and for the control group.

Seizure severity significantly influences parenting stress after considering cognitive dysfunction in children with epilepsy. Therefore, pediatricians and clinicians should consider epilepsy-specific stress in parents of children with DRE.

心理负担会影响癫痫患儿父母的生活质量，尤其是癫痫控制不佳患儿的父母。压力对癫痫患儿父母的影响与其孩子的认知功能障碍和癫痫的严重程度显着相关。本研究的目的是在考虑儿童的认知能力后，评估患有耐药性癫痫（DRE）和控制性癫痫的学龄儿童父母的压力水平。

研究参与者由对照组 35 名发育正常的儿童、控制癫痫组 25 名、DRE 组 26 名儿童及其父母组成。我们使用中文版的育儿压力指数（PSI）来衡量所有父母的压力水平；以及韦氏儿童智力量表第四版（WISC-IV）中文版，用于评估儿童的认知水平。

DRE患儿父母的育儿压力显着高于对照组和控制癫痫组的父母。PSI 的儿童领域显示出具有统计学意义的适应性、可接受性、要求和注意力分散/多动性子量表。此外，DRE 组的可接受性、适应性、要求和注意力分散/多动量表的高风险比也高于控制癫痫组和对照组。

在考虑癫痫儿童的认知功能障碍后，癫痫发作的严重程度显着影响育儿压力。因此，儿科医生和临床医生应考虑 DRE 儿童父母的癫痫特异性压力。