In the last decades, the issue of caring for a sick parent at young age has received increased attention due to recent changes in society. The term “carer” (also known as caregiver) refers to anyone who carries out, on a regular and unpaid basis, significant caring tasks for a friend or family member who cannot cope alone because of an illness or other condition. Existing evidence suggests that young carers tend to have more mental health problems and more difficulties in behavioral, psychosocial, and academic adjustment than their peers without an ill parent. Since caring can be viewed as a natural extension of family relationships, young people often do not receive support from social policy, health and social services. Therefore, the aim of this review was to systematically ascertain the literature on psychological interventions for young carers (aged 11-30 years), aimed to promote their mental health and well-being, thus mitigating the psychosocial impact of caring on their development.

A systematic literature search was performed in CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed and Scopus; in addition, reference lists from reviewed papers were used to identify additional relevant studies. A rigorous screening process was followed, and a checklist for qualitative and observational studies was used to assess the methodological quality of the studies. Narrative synthesis of the selected articles was carried out.

Only 9 studies were included. Interventions had a different nature and mixed evidence on their efficacy emerged. Moreover, several methodological concerns limited study replicability.

Given the clinical relevance of this topic, it is important that these interventions and the new ones will undergo rigorous evaluation. Effective interventions for young carers may also lead to considerable savings in healthcare and societal costs.