Nakanishi Miharu, Richards Marcus, Stanyon Daniel, Yamasaki Syudo, Endo Kaori, Sakai Mai, Yoshii Hatsumi, Nishida Atsushi
Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai-shi, Miyagi, Japan; Research Center for Social Science & Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
J Adolesc Health. 2022 Jun;70(6):877-884. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.01.228. Epub 2022 Feb 4.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescent carers in the UK may have experienced psychological distress owing to increased caring burden and loss of a break from their caring role. This study investigated longitudinal association between adolescents' caring status and mental health outcomes from 2018/2019 to February-March 2021.
The participants (n = 3,927) answered mental health questions in both the Millennium Cohort Study sweep 7 survey (age 17 years in 2018/2019) and at least one of three waves of the COVID-19 survey from May 2020 to February-March 2021. Caring status at the age of 17 years was assessed using a single question regarding whether the participant regularly looked after anyone who needed care, without being paid. Outcome measures were psychological symptoms, measured using the Kessler Distress Scale, and mental well-being, measured using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale.
Compared with 3,616 noncarers, 311 (7.9%) adolescent carers reported significantly higher Kessler Distress Scale and lower Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale scores during the pandemic. These associations were largely explained by psychosocial risk factors. Worse outcomes were associated with poor sleep quality, attempted suicide at baseline, low social support, and a strong feeling of loneliness during the pandemic. These factors were significantly more likely to be observed among adolescent carers than noncarers.
UK adolescent carers exhibited worsened mental health outcomes one year after the first national lockdown. This increased distress may be attributable to psychosocial risk factors during the pre-COVID-19 and current COVID-19 periods, and they require psychosocial support.
在新冠疫情期间，英国的青少年照顾者可能因照顾负担加重以及无法从照顾角色中解脱出来而经历心理困扰。本研究调查了2018/2019年至2021年2月至3月期间青少年照顾状况与心理健康结果之间的纵向关联。
参与者（n = 3927）在千禧队列研究第7轮调查（2018/2019年时年龄为17岁）以及2020年5月至2021年2月至3月期间的三轮新冠调查中的至少一轮中回答了心理健康问题。通过一个关于参与者是否定期无偿照顾任何需要照顾的人的单一问题来评估17岁时的照顾状况。结果指标包括使用凯斯勒困扰量表测量的心理症状以及使用沃里克 - 爱丁堡心理健康量表测量的心理健康状况。
与3616名非照顾者相比，在疫情期间，311名（7.9%）青少年照顾者报告的凯斯勒困扰量表得分显著更高，而沃里克 - 爱丁堡心理健康量表得分更低。这些关联在很大程度上由社会心理风险因素所解释。较差的结果与睡眠质量差、基线时有自杀未遂、社会支持低以及疫情期间强烈的孤独感有关。在青少年照顾者中比在非照顾者中更有可能显著观察到这些因素。
在首次全国封锁一年后，英国青少年照顾者的心理健康结果恶化。这种困扰加剧可能归因于新冠疫情前和当前新冠疫情期间的社会心理风险因素，他们需要社会心理支持。
