Psychological distress of young carers: A questionnaire survey among Saitama prefectural high school students

Abstract

Objectives Research suggests that Japan has a substantial number of young carers-that is, children who provide care to their family members. However, little is known about the effects of the burden of caring on their mental health. This cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the relationship between caring roles and psychological distress among high school students, and discuss the effects of the burden of caring on young carers' mental health.Methods We conducted a questionnaire survey among 4,550 high school students from 11 prefectural schools in Saitama Prefecture, Japan; questions were on family members and students' caring roles. Psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler 6 scale (K6)-a modified version of the scale's official Japanese translation was used to make it easy for the students to understand the questions. Two types of regression analysis (i.e., multiple regression analysis and ordinal logistic regression analysis) were performed to investigate the relationship between caring roles and psychological distress with adjustment for potential confounding factors.Results A total of 3,917 valid questionnaires were collected; from these, 3,557, from those aged 15-25, having all the required information were analyzed. Of the 3,557 respondents, 23 (0.6%) were aged 19 and five (0.1%) were aged 20 or above. It was found that 34 (1.0%) provided care to infant siblings without disability, illness, or other special needs (Young Carers A), and 190 (5.3%) provided care to family members with disability, illness, or other special needs (Young Carers B). The remaining 3,333 (93.7%) (those who did not provide care to their family members) made up the control group. The two types of regression analysis yielded similar results, and both indicated a significant relationship between caring roles and psychological distress (P=0.003 and P<0.001, respectively). The results of ordinal logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds ratio for psychological distress as assessed by the K6 for Young Carers B was 1.572, which was significantly higher than that for the control group (P<0.001); in contrast, the same for Young Carers A was 1.666, which was not statistically significant (P=0.084) but higher than that for the control group and close to the one for Young Carers B.Conclusion The results suggest that care burden may have adverse effects on young carers' mental health.