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  • Cullingham et al Avodiance March 3 2019

    Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Epilepsy and Behavior. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Epilepsy and Behavior, 95, 2019 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2019.03.004

    Accepted author manuscript, 561 KB, PDF document

    Available under license: CC BY-NC-ND: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

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Avoidance in nonepileptic attack disorder: A systematic review and meta-analyses

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>1/06/2019
<mark>Journal</mark>Epilepsy and Behavior
Volume95
Number of pages12
Pages (from-to)100-111
Publication StatusPublished
Early online date25/04/19
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Background
Avoidance is the active process of trying to escape from or not experience situations, places, thoughts, or feelings. This can be done through behavioral or cognitive strategies, or more broadly, a combination of both, utilized in an attempt to disengage from private experiences referred to as experiential avoidance (EA). Avoidance is considered important in the development and maintenance of nonepileptic attack disorder (NEAD). This review aimed to understand avoidance in NEAD and evaluate its role as a contributory factor.

Methods
Fourteen articles were identified by searching Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), MEDLINE Complete, PsycINFO, and EMBASE and were combined in a narrative synthesis. Six of these articles were included in a meta-analysis comparing levels of EA for individuals with NEAD and healthy controls (HC), and four were included in a meta-analysis comparing EA in NEAD to epilepsy comparisons (EC).

Conclusions
Experiential avoidance appears to be a strategy that is used by a high proportion of the population with NEAD. The group with NEAD utilized significantly more avoidance compared with both the HC and EC. However, further research is needed to understand the extent and types of avoidance that are relevant.

Bibliographic note

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Epilepsy and Behavior. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Epilepsy and Behavior, 95, 2019 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2019.03.004