Mental health of young informal carers: a systematic review

This systematic review aims to assess and evaluate quantitative evidence on the association between informal caregiving and mental health in young people.

This review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021251666). We conducted our search in the following four databases: Medline (PubMed and OVID), EMBASE, PsycInfo and Web of Science. The last search was performed on the 17th of March of 2021. Quantitative studies that focused on carers aged 25 years or less and compared the mental health status of carers and non-carers were eligible for inclusion. Two reviewers independently assessed articles for eligibility and performed the quality assessment using the Risk of Bias tool in Non-Randomised Studies of Exposures (ROBINS-E).

We identified a total of ten eligible articles. Mental health outcomes included depression, anxiety and other mental or emotional problems. Nine out of the ten studies showed that being a young carer was consistently associated with poor mental health. However, the overall quality of evidence was low, and longitudinal data were limited to three articles. The primary sources of bias were confounding and outcome measurement.

Young carers experience poorer mental health outcomes than their non-caring peers. However, we identified an overall lack of quantitative evidence of high methodological rigour. To establish if young caring leads to poor mental health, future research should focus on addressing the identified methodological limitations and understanding the mechanisms explaining these associations. Addressing these gaps can better inform the allocation of appropriate support and resources to optimise the mental health of young carers.