Clinical Psychology in Healthcare, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Centre for Gender Research, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
BMJ Open. 2020 Sep 10;10(9):e036402. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-036402.
Increased life expectancy has led to an increased demand for family members to provide informal care for their older relatives in the home. Many studies suggest informal caregivers are at greater risk of experiencing symptoms of depression. However, there is a lack of research examining the effectiveness of psychological interventions targeting these symptoms alongside clinical and methodological moderators potentially associated with intervention effectiveness. This review aims to address this gap and will inform the development of a psychological intervention targeting depression among adult-child caregivers of older parents, given many studies show that among informal caregivers of older adults, adult children experience specific difficulties and needs for psychological support. Further, the lack of studies targeting adult children specifically necessitates conducting this review targeting caregivers of older adults in general.
Randomised controlled trials of psychological interventions targeting symptoms of depression among informal caregivers will be identified via a systematic search of electronic databases (PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Excerpta Medica DataBase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library and Web of Science) and supplemented by handsearching of previous systematic reviews, reference and forward citation checking, and expert contact. If possible, a meta-analysis will be conducted to examine the: (1) effectiveness of psychological interventions for depression among informal caregivers of older adults, (2) effectiveness of psychological interventions for secondary outcomes such as anxiety, stress, caregiver burden, psychological distress, quality of life, well-being and self-efficacy and (3) moderating effects of clinical and methodological factors on effectiveness.
Ethical approval will not be necessary for this study given primary data will not be collected. Results will inform the development of a psychological intervention for adult-child caregivers of older parents and will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations.
CRD42020157763.
预期寿命的延长导致人们对家庭成员在家中为年长亲属提供非正式护理的需求增加。许多研究表明，非正式照顾者更有可能出现抑郁症状。然而，目前缺乏研究调查针对这些症状的心理干预措施的有效性，以及可能与干预效果相关的临床和方法学调节因素。本综述旨在填补这一空白，并为针对老年父母成年子女照顾者的抑郁症状的心理干预措施的制定提供信息，因为许多研究表明，在老年人的非正式照顾者中，成年子女面临着特定的困难和心理支持需求。此外，针对成年子女的研究很少，因此有必要针对一般的老年照顾者进行本综述。
通过系统检索电子数据库（PubMed、Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature、Excerpta Medica DataBase、PsycINFO、Cochrane Library 和 Web of Science），并辅以对以前的系统综述、参考文献和向前引用检查以及专家联系的手工搜索，将确定针对非正式照顾者抑郁症状的心理干预措施的随机对照试验。如果可能，将进行荟萃分析以检验：（1）针对老年照顾者的心理干预对抑郁的有效性，（2）针对焦虑、压力、照顾者负担、心理困扰、生活质量、幸福感和自我效能等次要结果的心理干预的有效性，（3）临床和方法因素对有效性的调节作用。
由于不会收集原始数据，因此本研究不需要伦理批准。研究结果将为针对老年父母成年子女照顾者的心理干预措施的制定提供信息，并通过在同行评议期刊上发表和会议报告进行传播。
PROSPERO 注册号：CRD42020157763。
