Pathways Linking Parental Social Support and Decision-Making Participation to Medication Adherence in Children With Epilepsy: The Moderating Role of Parental Anxiety

Background: Medication adherence among pediatric epilepsy patients is frequently suboptimal, and the complex interplay between parental social support, decision-making participation, treatment satisfaction, and parental anxiety in influencing medication adherence remains underexplored. This study investigates both the direct and indirect pathways linking these factors to medication adherence and examines the mediating role of treatment satisfaction and the moderating role of parental anxiety.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at three medical institutions between January 2020 and June 2024. Data on patient demographics and standardized scales measuring medication adherence, social support, communication and decision-making participation, treatment satisfaction, and parental anxiety were collected. Relationships among these variables were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and moderation analysis.

Results: A total of 1056 patients were included in the study, with a mean age of 8.86 ± 3.99 years; 51.7% were male. Path analysis showed that parental social support (STD = 0.344, p  < 0.001), communication and decision-making participation (STD = 0.392, p  < 0.001), and treatment satisfaction (STD = 0.090, p  < 0.05) had significant positive effects on medication adherence. Parental social support (STD = 0.483, p  < 0.001) and communication and decision-making participation (STD = 0.203, p  < 0.001) also strongly influenced treatment satisfaction. The indirect effects of social support and decision-making participation on medication adherence, mediated through treatment satisfaction, were statistically significant (p  < 0.05). Parental anxiety, as a moderating factor, weakened the positive effects of social support, decision-making participation, and treatment satisfaction on medication adherence (p  < 0.05).

Conclusion: This study systematically develops an integrated model linking parental social support, communication and decision-making participation, treatment satisfaction, and anxiety to medication adherence in pediatric epilepsy. It highlights the mediating role of treatment satisfaction and the moderating role of parental anxiety. Enhancing parental social support and communication, improving treatment satisfaction, and addressing parental anxiety are key strategies to promote medication adherence.