Who am I?: an exploration of identity development of young adult carers in the United Kingdom and United States

Young adult carers are those individuals aged 18-25 who provide unpaid care, support, and assistance to an ill or disabled family member. While it is understood that young adult carers play an important role in supporting their families, little is known about the effect providing care during youth and young adulthood may have onto a young person’s development of identity. Therefore, this doctoral research project sought to understand the potential impact that caring responsibilities may have upon the development of identity for young adult carers living in the United Kingdom and United States. This comparative research utilized 55 qualitative semi-structured interviews from young adult carers in the United Kingdom (27) and United States (28). A thematic analysis was used to highlight themes connected to identity development. One major contribution of this work includes a multidisciplinary approach to its theoretical underpinnings, by drawing from developmental psychology, sociology, and sociolinguistic perspectives to better understand the identity development of young adults with caring responsibilities. Secondly, this work revealed the ways young adults with caring responsibilities opt to engage the socially constructed discourse on young caring through the complex use of language (and specifically, labels and codes). In all, this research study sets the stage for future work on the implications of the social construction of identities in low and advanced young carer awareness country contexts and the meanings it may have on the actual lived experience of young adults with caring responsibilities

Positive and negative impacts of caring among adolescents caring for grandparents. Results from an online survey in six European countries and implications for future research, policy and practice

Although up to 8% of European youngsters carry out high-intensity care for a family member, adolescent young carers (AYCs), especially those caring for their grandparents (GrPs), remain an under-researched group. This study aimed at addressing the current knowledge gap by carrying out an online survey in Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The analysis included a final sample of 817 AYCs aged 15–17 years old. AYCs of grandparents (GrPs) were compared to AYCs of other care recipients (OCRs), in order to identify any difference in positive and negative caregiving outcomes and exposure factors between the two groups. Linear or logistic regression models were built, and multivariate analyses were repeated, including a fixed effect on the country variable. AYCs of GrPs experienced more positive caregiving outcomes than AYCs of OCRs across all six countries. Being female or non-binary, and having a migration background, were associated with more negative outcomes, regardless of the relationship with the care recipient. Further research on intergenerational caregiving outcomes is recommended for shaping measures and policies, which preserve the intergenerational emotional bonds, whilst protecting AYCs from inappropriate responsibilities, undermining their mental health and well-being

The awareness, visibility and support for young carers across Europe: a Delphi study

Across Europe, young carers (YCs) and their need for support receive limited attention in the media, policy and empirical research, even though, similar to adult carers, they also provide care to ill family members. The Delphi study, a qualitative research methodology, which provides the focus for this article, had the overall aim of exploring existing successful strategies to support YCs. Compared to YCs, even less is known about adolescent young carers (AYCs), a group that is in a critical life transition phase. The study forms part of an EU Horizon 2020 funded research project on AYCs aged 15-17 years old. The two-round Delphi study was conducted with 66 experts on YCs from 10 European countries. Topics included: (i) visibility and awareness-raising of YCs at local, regional, and national levels, (ii) current interventions to support YCs, and (iii) future strategies to support YCs. Experts reported a lack of visibility and awareness about YCs in general, and AYCs in particular. Although awareness is slowly increasing in most countries, with the UK ranked highest, experts acknowledged that it remains challenging to identify YCs in many countries. Furthermore, the level and type of support available for YCs differs, with most countries mainly offering support on a local level. Diverse views were expressed regarding future strategies to support YCs. Experts highlighted the importance of specific legislation to formalise the rights of YCs, and the issue of whether young people should be safeguarded from caregiving or if this should be considered part of regular family life. They also emphasised the relevance of available integrated support services for YCs, including schools, family, health and social care. In most European countries, there is a lack of awareness and visibility on YCs. Identification of YCs is a crucial first step and there is need for a common definition of YCs, together with greater opportunities for young adults to identify themselves as YCs

The first cross-national study of adolescent young carers aged 15-17 in six European countries

This paper provides an original cross-national profile of adolescents who provide unpaid care to ill or disabled family members ('Adolescent Young Carers/AYCs') in six European countries. Utilizing an online survey, 2,099 AYCs were identified in Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. This paper focuses on the impact of care onto their mental health well-being, physical health, and education, as well as their preferences for informal and formal support. These groundbreaking findings help promote a 'rights' approach for AYCs, which can serve as a critical driver for supportive policy creation on both a country-specific and Pan-European level

Promoting Mental Health and Well-Being Among Adolescent Young Carers in Europe: A Cross-National Randomized Controlled Trial Study

Background/Objectives: This cross-national study focuses on adolescents who provide care and support to family members or significant others. Current evidence regarding their mental health and solutions to strengthen it is limited and mostly available in a few countries. The aim of this study is to evaluate the results of a primary prevention intervention for improving the mental health and well-being of adolescent young carers (AYCs) aged 15–17 years in six European countries. The intervention was based on a psychoeducational program and tools adapted from the Discoverer, Noticer, Advisor, and Values (DNA-V) model. Methods: We designed a randomized controlled trial with 217 AYCs participating in the study, either in the intervention or control group. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected via questionnaires at baseline, post-intervention, and a 3-month follow up. Results: The results were mixed, as positive improvements in primary (i.e., psychological well-being and skills) and secondary (school/training/work functioning) outcomes were shown by the experimental group but, in most cases, they were not statistically significant. The qualitative data supported positive claims about the intervention and its appropriateness for AYCs. Conclusions: The study implementation during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the consortium to adapt the design and may have influenced the results. More long-term studies are needed to assess similar mental health programs with this hard-to-reach target group

Recruitment of adolescent young carers to a psychosocial support intervention study in six European countries: lessons learned from the ME-WE project

Young carers provide a substantial amount of care to family members and support to friends, yet their situation has not been actively addressed in research and policy in many European countries or indeed globally. Awareness of their situation by professionals and among children and young carers themselves remains low overall. Thus, young carers remain a largely hidden group within society. This study reports and analyses the recruitment process in a multi-centre intervention study offering psychosocial support to adolescent young carers (AYCs) aged 15–17 years. A cluster-randomised controlled trial was designed, with recruitment taking place in Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom exploiting various channels, including partnerships with schools, health and social services and carers organisations. In total, 478 AYCs were recruited and, after screening failures, withdrawals and initial dropouts, 217 were enrolled and started the intervention. Challenges encountered in reaching, recruiting and retaining AYCs included low levels of awareness among AYCs, a low willingness to participate in study activities, uncertainty about the prevalence of AYCs, a limited school capacity to support the recruitment; COVID-19 spreading in 2020–2021 and related restrictions. Based on this experience, recommendations are put forward for how to better engage AYCs in research

Research and Innovation for and with Adolescent Young Carers to Influence Policy and Practice—The European Union Funded “ME-WE” Project

Young carers are children and adolescents who provide care to other family members or friends, taking over responsibilities that are usually associated with adulthood. There is emerging but still scarce knowledge worldwide about the phenomenon of young carers and the impact of a caring role on their health, social and personal development spheres. This paper provides an overview of the main results from the ME-WE project, which is the first European research and innovation project dedicated to adolescent young carers (AYCs) (15–17 years). The project methods relied on three main activities: (1) a systematization of knowledge (by means of a survey to AYCs, country case studies, Delphi study, literature review); (2) the co-design, implementation and evaluation of a primary prevention intervention addressing AYCs’ mental health (by means of Blended Learning Networks and a clinical trial in six European countries); (3) the implementation of knowledge translation actions for dissemination, awareness, advocacy and lobbying (by means of national and international stakeholder networks, as well as traditional and new media). Project results substantially contributed to a better understanding of AYCs’ conditions, needs and preferences, defined tailored support intervention (resilient to COVID-19 related restrictions), and significant improvements in national and European policies for AYCs

The first cross-national study of adolescent young carers aged 15–17 in six European countries

For the first time, this article will provide a cross-national profile of adolescents who provide unpaid care to their ill or disabled family members in six European countries with varied levels of awareness, policy and service provision regarding adolescent young carers. Utilising an online survey, 2,099 adolescent young carers were identified in Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. This article focuses on the impact of unpaid care on their mental health, well-being, physical health and education. Their preferences for informal and formal support were also examined.These groundbreaking findings help promote a ‘rights’ approach to adolescent young carers, which can serve as a critical driver for supportive policy creation on both a country-specific and pan-European level

Adolescent young carers who provide help and support to friends

Prior studies emphasize the value of friends’ support for children/adolescents who have a disability or suffer from mental ill-health or a long-term illness. However, few studies have explored how a caring role affects those young friend carers themselves. This paper addresses a gap in the research by focusing on this hitherto neglected group of young carers to explore the impact of providing care to friends. An online survey was employed for a cross-national study conducted in 2018–2019 in Sweden, Italy, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom to examine the incidence of adolescent young friend carers, the extent of care they provide, and their self-reported health, well-being, and school situation. The survey was completed by 7146 adolescents, aged 15–17, and 1121 of them provided care to a friend with a health-related condition, most frequently mental ill-health. They carried out high levels of caring activities, and a quarter of them also provided care to a family member. They experienced both positive and negative aspects of caring. Nevertheless, in comparison with adolescents who provided care to family members, they reported more health problems, with a dominance of mental ill-health, and they received lower levels of support. Since adolescent friends play a valuable role for young people with health-related conditions, especially mental ill-health, it is important to find ways of optimizing their caring experiences in order that those adolescents who choose to care for a friend can do so without it having a negative impact on their own mental health, well-being, and life situation

Adolescent young carers who provide care to siblings

A child’s disability, long-term illness, or mental ill-health is known to affect siblings’ health, social life, school engagement, and quality of life. This article addresses a research gap by its focus on young sibling carers and the impact of providing care to a sibling. A cross-national survey study was conducted in 2018–2019 (Italy, The Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK) to examine the incidence of adolescent sibling carers, the extent of care they provide, and their self-reported health, well-being, and school situation. The survey was completed by 7146 adolescents, aged 15–17, and 1444 of them provided care to family members with health-related conditions. Out of these, 286 were identified as Sibling Carers and 668 as Parent Carers, while 181 had both sibling(s) and parent(s) with health-related conditions, and thus were identified as Sibling–Parent Carers. Sibling Carers and Sibling–Parent Carers carried out higher levels of caring activities compared to Parent Carers. They reported both positive aspects of caring, such as increased maturity, and negative aspects, such as mental ill-health, impact on schooling and a lack of support. To reduce the negative aspects of a sibling carer role, it is important to recognise them and to implement early preventive measures and formal support