Transcript Document

The
Psychological
Wellbeing of
Young Carers in
Northern
Ireland
Alison Toogood
Dr Teresa Rushe
Queen’s University Belfast
Overview
 Define
young carers and their role.
 Positive
and Negative outcomes in caring
at a young age.
 Significant
predictors of psychological
health.
 Overview
of our research and
conclusions.
 Q&As
Definition
“Young carers are defined as children and
young people under 18 who provide, or
intend to provide care, assistance or
support to another family member. They
carry out, often on a regular basis
significant or substantial caring tasks and
assume a level of responsibility that would
usually be associated with an adult.”
(Dearden & Becker, 2000)
Statistics
166,000
young
carers identified in
England alone.
(Office for National Statistics, 2011)
3.6% of all children
and young people up
to 17 years are defined
as young carers in
Australia (Australian Bureau of
Statistics, 2004)
9% of households in
Northern Ireland are
defined as having
one or more people
in the household with
a long term health
problem or disability.
(NISRA, 2011)
 Many
view their
circumstances as
‘normal family
life’
Hidden
Carers
Helping vs Caring
 Others
fear
scrutiny and
intervention from
social services.
 Stigma
(Smyth, Blaxland, & Cass, 2011)
 Domestic
 Personal
Care
Care
 Emotional
Caring
Activities
Care
 Financial/practical
management
 Household
Man-
agement
 Sibling
Care
6 Areas of
Responsibility
MACA –YC18
(Joseph, Becker, Becker,
Regel, 2009)
 Education
 Missed
opportunities
 Isolation
 Distress
 Poor
health
Negative
Outcomes
“Children who
adopt adult-like
caring
responsibilities are
at increased risk of
adverse
psychosocial
outcomes”
(Early & Cushway, 2002)
Positive
Outcomes
“My confidence has shot
through the roof [...] It’s
also wonderful to know
you have someone to turn
to. If I ever need support
or need to talk to the
session workers about
anything I know they’ll be
there.”
Rebecca, a Young Carer
 Pride
 Self-worth
 Accomplishment
 Skills
for the future
 Independence
 Perceived
Maturity
Significant predictors of
psychological health
 Demographic
 Social
 Style
and caregiving context
Support / social connectedness
of Coping: poor coping vs good coping.
The current study
1.
To explore the
association
between
burden of care
and
psychological
well-being.
2.
To identify the
significant
predictors of
good
psychological
health in this
group?
Methods
Demographic Variables
n
%
Female
15
68.2
Male
7
31.8
Caregiving Context Variables
Gender
Currently in
Education
Who is being cared for
n
%
Mother + 1 ( father or
sibling)
4
19.0
Mother
4
19.0
Father
5
23.8
Sibling
6
28.6
Primary
6
22.7
Illness or Disability
Secondary
15
68.2
Physical
9
47.4
Tertiary
1
4.5
10
52.6
None
1
4.5
Other (mental,
psychological,
developmental
disorder)
Both parents
16
76.2
Age Started Caring
Lone parent family
5
23.8
< 10 years
10
52.6
>10 years
9
47.4
Not all, very little
8
38.1
A lot of choice/free to
choose
13
61.9
< 3 years
6
30.0
>3 years
14
70.0
Family Structure
Siblings
Choice in Caring
Has siblings
20
95.5
No siblings
1
4.5
M (SD)
Range
Duration of Caregiving
13.59
(2.24)
10 -17
Household size
5.80 (1.91)
2-10
Duration of
Illness/disability
Number of siblings
2.90 (1.51)
0-7
< 3 years
3
15.8
>3 years
16
84.2
Age of Sample
(years)
Measure of psychological health
Strengths and
Difficulties
Questionnaire (SDQ)

No of
Responses
Range
of
Scores
Total Difficulties
Score
No. of Responses
Within the defined Range
Normal
Borderline
Abnormal
0 - 15
16 – 19
20 - 40
11
4
6
(SDQTOT)
I am usually on my own. I
generally play alone or
keep to myself.

I worry a lot.

I try to be nice to others. I
Total Difficulties
21
0 - 40
Mean Score
13.81
% of sample
52.4
19.0
28.6
Normal
Borderline
Abnormal
6 -10
5
0-4
18
3
0
14.3
0
care about their feelings.

I am helpful if someone is
hurt, upset or feeling ill.
Prosocial Score
21
0 - 10
(SDQPS)
Mean Score
8.05
% of sample
85.7
Predictors of psychological
Coping (Response to
health
Stress Questionnaire)
Burden of Care
(MACA –YC18)
No of
Responses
MACA
Score
% of
sample
Range of
Scores
Mean
Score
22
Range
of
Scores
0 - 36
No. of Responses
Within the defined Range
Low
Moderate
High
Very
1-9
10 - 13
14 - 17
High 18+
2
5
8
7
9
22.7
36.4
31.8

I just have to get away

I feel sick

My mind just goes blank

I just can’t get myself to
face the problem

8 -24
14.9

Range of scores 27 – 81
X= 47.42 (Sd =19.24)
What are the significant predictors
of psychological health in this
group?
Correlation Analysis
Burden of Care

Significant negative
correlation between
burden of care and
psychological
difficulties
Burden Psychological Prosocial
of Care
Significant positive
correlation between
burden of care and
pro-social behaviour
Score
Score
Pearson
Burden of
Correlation
Care
Sig. (2-tailed)
Pearson
Total

Difficulties
Difficulties
Score
1
-.510*
-.510*
.623**
.018
.003
1
-.559**
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
Pearson
Prosocial
Correlation
Score
Sig. (2-tailed)
.018
.008
.623**
-.559**
.003
.008
1
Coping

significant positive
correlation between
coping and
psychological
difficulties
Correlation Analysis
Burden
Pearson
Burden of
Care

significant negative
correlation between
coping and burden
of care
Correlation
Psychological
Difficulties
Coping
of Care
Difficulties
1
-.510*
-.542*
.018
.011
1
.767**
Sig. (2-tailed)
Pearson
Psychological Coping
-.510*
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
Pearson
Correlation
.018
-.542*
.000
.767**
1
Does coping mediate the
relationship between burden of
care and psychological health?
Multiple Regression Analysis
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
B
Std. Error
27.604
5.626
Burden of
Care
-.909
.363
(Constant)
4.086
7.501
Burden of
Care
-.230
.328
.287
.075
Standardized
Coefficients
t
Sig.
Beta
4.907
.000
2.503
.022
.545
.593
-.702
.492
3.806
.001
(Constant)
1
2
Poor
Coping
-.508
-.128
.697
a. Dependent Variable: Psychological Difficulties
 Burden
of care
explains 26% of
variance in
psychological
health.
 Adding coping to
the model explains
60% of variance in
psychological
health.
Conclusions
It is likely that the
young carers in this
Coping mediates the
relationship between
burden of care and
psychological
health.
sample report good
psychological health
as a result of support
they receive at their
Young Carers’
Support Group.
Impact of Study

Equipping young carers with good coping
skills will promote good psychological health.

Research shows that good coping skills
include problem solving skills, positive thinking
and asking for help.

Young Carer organisations can include
coping skills as part of their support
programme.
The
Psychological
Wellbeing of
Young Carers in
Northern
Ireland
Alison Toogood
Dr Teresa Rushe
Queen’s University Belfast
[email protected]