B – 9 The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Current Depression Symptoms on Quality of Life in Patients with Epilepsy

Abstract Objective This expanded upon previous literature by exploring the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and current depressive symptoms on distinct quality of life domains in patients with epilepsy. Method The sample was 86 adult epilepsy patients referred for neuropsychological evaluation, 52.9% Female; Mage=38 (SD=13.53); Meducation=13 years (SD=2.63); 43.6%Black, 26.5%White, 20.6%Hispanic, 2.9%Asian, and 7.4%Multiracial. Patients were subdivided to form High (≥4) and Low (≤3) ACE groups. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) assessed for differences between High and Low ACE scores on overall and individual quality of life subscales using the Quality of Life in Epilepsy-89-Item (QOLIE-89). A series of multiple linear regressions were then run to examine the effect of ACEs and depressive symptoms (using the BDI-II) on the 16 individual QOLIE-89 subscales. Results No significant differences were identified between High and Low ACE groups on the QOLIE-89. Current depression symptoms significantly predicted quality of life on most QOLIE-89 subscales (R2=.13-.55) except for Medication Effects, wherein ACEs were the sole predictor (R2=.12; F[2,65], p=.014). Interestingly, both ACEs and depression symptoms significantly predicted Health Discouragement (R2=.30; F[2,65], p<.001), and neither ACEs nor depression symptoms significantly predicted Physical Function (R2=.08; F[2,65], p=.052). Conclusion Current depression symptoms significantly impact multiple domains of quality of life in patients with epilepsy, above history of childhood adversity/trauma exposure. In addition to controlling seizures and mitigating cognitive burden in this population, aggressively treating depressive symptomatology may also contribute to increased quality of life among this clinical population.