Researcher(s)
- Ryan McNerney, Psychology, Middlebury College
Faculty Mentor(s)
- Stephanie Del Tufo, School of Education, University of Delaware
Abstract
For so many children in the world, their education is extremely important for them to be able to have many opportunities for their careers and their lives as a whole. Thus, achieving academic success during one’s education is of the utmost importance. That is why the purpose of the current study is to investigate how childhood epilepsy and theory of mind affect academic performance as well as each other. This study also sought to determine which external factors accounted for differences in outcomes among these associations. Thus, a preliminary systematic literature review was conducted through the database PubMed using search terms related to epilepsy, theory of mind, and academic performance. After utilizing appropriate exclusion and inclusion criteria, title screening, abstract screening, and full-text screening the results, there were fifteen studies deemed eligible for inclusion in this review. The general findings of these studies were that the association between theory of mind and academic performance was positive, the association between epilepsy and academic performance was negative, and the association between epilepsy and theory of mind was also negative. There were also some factors that at least partially accounted for differences in outcomes, including socioeconomic status and parents’ level of education. Overall, there is a clear need for further research into these associations.