Psychoeducational Intervention for Caregivers of Adolescents and Young Adults with Psychiatric Disorders: A 7-Year Systematic Review

: Background/Objectives: Psychoeducation is a specialized form of psychological education aimed at helping people suffering from psychological problems and their families. To investigate the efficacy of psychoeducation interventions (PEIs) in improving both the burden and quality of life of caregivers and the health conditions of their adolescent or youth patients. Methods: The following databases were used: PubMed, PsycInfo, CINAHL Plus with full text, Medline and Nursing Reference Center Plus. Two search strings were developed, one for the mental health conditions of assisted patients and the other one for caregivers. Results: We selected 30 articles and applied two differentiated meta-analyses on 12 of them to evaluate the effectiveness of PEIs. We highlighted a statistically significant superior efficacy of PIEs compared to control groups in five studies in the meta-analysis of studies on caregiver outcomes, and eight studies in the meta-analysis of studies on outcomes of patients cared for. Conclusions: PEIs were shown to be effective in reducing symptoms and hospitalizations in persons cared for, improving their quality of life as well as that of their caregivers. Regarding the caregiver's care burden, our review suggests that PEIs generally improve burden in caregivers, reducing the perception of their workload in caring for adolescent or youth persons.