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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

EV0593

Parents as an unrecognized clinical population in child and adolescent mental health: evidence from three systematic reviews

PARENTS AS AN UNRECOGNISED CLINICAL POPULATION IN CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH: EVIDENCE FROM THREE SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS

Parents of children and young people with mental health difficulties experience clinically significant distress and widespread unmet needs, yet direct support remains limited.

The study aimed to assess whether parents of children and young people (CYP) with mental health difficulties constitute a clinically significant population in their own right, drawing on evidence from three systematic reviews. The reviews included were a quantitative systematic review and meta-analysis of 32 studies on parental well-being outcomes, a qualitative review and thematic meta-synthesis of 46 studies on parental experiences and needs, and an intervention review and meta-analysis of 15 studies (N = 812) targeting parental well-being. Pooled mean scores frequently fell within the clinical range: STAI state anxiety 43.7 and STAI trait anxiety 41.0 (clinical cutoff > 40), PSI-SF parenting stress 106.6 (clinical cutoff > 90), and DASS stress 28.4 (severe range). Depression and parenting stress were also elevated relative to parents in comparison groups. The qualitative synthesis highlighted emotional burden, anxiety, guilt and uncertainty, unmet support needs and difficulties accessing help, changing family roles and strained relationships, and parents prioritizing their child's needs over their own. In the intervention review, 12 of the 15 studies included psychoeducation, samples consisted predominantly of mothers, and pooled effects on anxiety, depression, stress and burden were largely not statistically significant; intervention content was heterogeneous, and the mechanisms targeted for change were rarely specified. The authors conclude that parental well-being should be addressed as an outcome in its own right, rather than solely as a means of improving child outcomes, and recommend recognition, assessment, direct support and the development of mechanism-based interventions.

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