1. Attitudes toward persons with epilepsy as friends: Results of a factorial survey.
- Author
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Walther K, Kriwy P, Stritzelberger J, Graf W, Gollwitzer S, Lang JD, Reindl C, Schwab S, Welte TM, and Hamer HM
- Subjects
- Humans, Male, Female, Young Adult, Adult, Middle Aged, Adolescent, Surveys and Questionnaires, Seizures, Social Behavior, Friends, Epilepsy
- Abstract
Objective: Discrimination against persons with epilepsy (PWEs) may persist. The aim of this study was to examine whether epilepsy is an obstacle to desired friendship., Methods: A factorial survey (vignettes), which is less biased by social desirability, was applied to PWEs, their relatives, and lay persons. The vignettes described a person who was varied by the dimensions of age (younger, same age, older), gender (male, female), disease (healthy, mild epilepsy, severe epilepsy [generalized tonic-clonic seizures], diabetes), origin (German, non-German), contact (phone/internet, activities at home, activities outside), frequency of contacts (weekly, monthly), and distance (around the corner, 10 km away). Respondents rated their willingness to befriend the person on a 10-point Likert scale. Multivariate regression determined the contribution of each dimension on the judgment., Results: Participants were 64 PWEs (age = 37.1 ± 14.0 years), 64 relatives of PWEs (age = 45.1 ± 13.6 years), and 98 controls without contact with PWEs (age = 24.4 ± 10.1 years). Controls were less interested in a friendship with a PWE with mild epilepsy (-3.4%) and even more avoided PWEs with severe epilepsy (-11.7%), whereas in PWEs with tonic-clonic seizures, a mild form of epilepsy was actually conducive to friendship (+7.0%). Controls preferred females (+5.0%) and disliked younger people (-12.3%) and contacts via the internet or telephone (-7.3%). PWEs were also less interested in younger people (-5.8%), and relatives of PWEs had a lower preference for friendships with longer distance (-2.3%)., Significance: PWEs still suffer from a risk of social avoidance, and this becomes more evident with generalized motor seizures., (© 2022 The Authors. Epilepsia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International League Against Epilepsy.)
- Published
- 2023
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