Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 19;18(4):2045. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18042045.
It is estimated that 4-8% of youth in Europe carry out substantial care for a family member or significant other. To prevent adverse psychosocial outcomes in young carers (YCs), primary prevention resilience building interventions have been recommended. We describe the study protocol of an international randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an innovative group intervention designed to promote the mental health and well-being of adolescent YCs (AYCs) aged 15-17. The RCT will be conducted in six European countries in the context of the Horizon 2020 European funded research and innovation project "Psychosocial support for promoting mental health and well-being among adolescent young caregivers in Europe" ("ME-WE"). The ME-WE intervention is based on Hayes and Ciarrochi's psychoeducational model for adolescents and will consist of seven 2-h sessions in a group format, aimed to help AYCs build psychological flexibility and live according to their values. The control group will be a waitlist. Primary and secondary outcomes and control variables will be measured at baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1) and 3 months follow-up (T2). The COVID-19 pandemic has made amendments necessary to the original study protocol methodology, which we describe in detail. This study will contribute to building an evidence-based manualized program that educators and health and social care professionals can use to support AYCs in their transition to adulthood. From a research perspective, the outcomes of this study will contribute to evidence-based practices in primary prevention of psychosocial difficulties in AYCs and will gather novel knowledge on the effectiveness of Hayes and Ciarrochi's model for use with middle adolescents with caring responsibilities. The trial has been preregistered (registration number: NCT04114864).
据估计，欧洲有 4-8%的年轻人会为家庭成员或重要他人提供大量照顾。为了防止年轻照顾者（YCs）出现不良的心理社会后果，已经推荐了初级预防弹性建设干预措施。我们描述了一项针对创新小组干预措施的国际随机对照试验（RCT）的研究方案，该干预措施旨在促进 15-17 岁青少年 YCs（AYCs）的心理健康和幸福感。该 RCT 将在欧洲地平线 2020 研究与创新项目“为欧洲青少年年轻照顾者提供心理社会支持以促进心理健康和幸福感”（“ME-WE”）的背景下在六个欧洲国家进行。ME-WE 干预措施基于 Hayes 和 Ciarrochi 的青少年心理教育模型，将包括七次 2 小时的小组形式课程，旨在帮助 AYCs 建立心理灵活性并按照自己的价值观生活。对照组将是候补名单。主要和次要结果以及控制变量将在基线（T0）、干预后（T1）和 3 个月随访（T2）时进行测量。COVID-19 大流行使得原始研究方案方法需要进行修改，我们对此进行了详细描述。这项研究将有助于建立一个基于证据的标准化计划，教育工作者、卫生和社会保健专业人员可以使用该计划来支持 AYCs 向成年期过渡。从研究的角度来看，这项研究的结果将有助于为 AYCs 的初级预防心理社会困难提供循证实践，并将收集关于 Hayes 和 Ciarrochi 模型在有照顾责任的中年青少年中使用的有效性的新知识。该试验已预先注册（注册号：NCT04114864）。
