Due to the increasing importance of caregivers in the treatment outcomes of patients with mental illness, this study aimed to systematically review studies investigating the former’s caregiver burden and determine its prevalence. An open search, without filters, was conducted. Articles were selected from Medline, Scopus, and PubMed from inception to 30 April 2022 using the PRISMA protocol. Subgroup analyses examined the between-group differences by study setting, measurements used, and disorder type. A total of 5034 caregivers from 23 countries were included in this review. Thirty-nine studies were included in the systematic review, and, among them, twenty-six were deemed eligible for meta-analysis. The overall pooled prevalence of caregiver burden among caregivers of individuals with mental illness was 31.67% (95% CI = 26.22–37.12). Pooled prevalence was the highest among care recipients receiving treatment in a hospital setting (36.06%; 95% CI = 22.50–49.63), followed by the community and clinic settings. Caregiver prevalence values were higher for burden measured using the Zarit Burden Interview (38.05%; 95% CI = 27.68–48.43). compared with other instruments, and for carers of care recipients with psychosis (35.88%; 95% CI = 27.03–44.72) compared with those without. Thus, targeted interventions should focus on caregivers of patients in hospital settings and with psychotic symptoms.

Medication adherence, especially among children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders, is often seen as a major treatment challenge. The purpose of this study is to systematically review studies addressing specific aspects of parental factors that are positively or negatively associated with medication adherence among children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders. A systematic literature search of English language publications, from inception through December 2021, was conducted from PubMed, Scopus, and MEDLINE databases. This review has complied with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement guidelines. A total of 23 studies (77,188 participants) met inclusion criteria. Nonadherence rates ranged between 8% to 69%. Parents’ socioeconomic background, family living status and functioning, parents’ perception and attitude towards the importance of medication taking in treating psychiatric disorders, and parents’ mental health status are significant parental characteristics associated with medication adherence in children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders. In conclusion, by identifying specific parental characteristics related to the medication adherence of children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders, targeted interventions on parents could be developed to guide parents in improving their child’s medication adherence.

Depression and anxiety are prevalent mental health issues worldwide, especially among parental caregivers. By expanding the family stress model, this cross-sectional study investigated the relevant factors associated with depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and satisfaction with life among Malaysian parental caregivers of adolescent psychiatric patients. Data were collected through questionnaires (N= 207) across five major public hospitals through convenience sampling. Participants answered questionnaires measuring financial strain, caregiver burden, relationship quality, belief in mental illness, perceived COVID-19 stress, satisfaction with health services, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and life satisfaction. Findings revealed that relationship quality among spouses, COVID-19 stress and caregiver burden were significantly correlated with anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms and satisfaction with life. The multiple regression model also suggested that depressive symptoms (β= .613,p< .001), anxiety symptoms (β= .657,p< .001) and relationship quality among spouses (β= .264,p< .001) were the most influential predictors of anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms and satisfaction with life respectively. By addressing the mental health needs of parental caregivers, this study can contribute to improving the overall quality of care and support provided to adolescent patients and their caregivers in Malaysia and beyond.

Despite significant advancements in the development of psychotropic medications, increasing adherence rates remain a challenge in the treatment and management of psychiatric disorders. The purpose of this study is to qualitatively explore the challenges underlying medication adherence and strategies to improve it among adolescents with psychiatric disorders in Malaysia. This qualitative research design presents results from 17 semi-structured interviews with adolescent psychiatric patients, aged 11 to 19 years old, from public hospitals across Peninsular Malaysia. The data collected from interviews were transcribed and processed through thematic analysis using the NVivo 11 software. A total of three main themes concerning medication adherence were identified: (1) challenges; (2) coping strategies and (3) protective factors. In this study, thirteen subthemes emerge as challenges underlying medication adherence experienced by adolescent psychiatric patients. The coping strategies identified in this study fall under three broad subthemes which are problem-focused strategies, emotion-focused strategies and maladaptive strategies. This study also highlights social support and positive medicinal effects as protective factors for non-adherence issues in adolescent psychiatric patients. In conclusion, this study supports the notion that adherence is a multi-factorial phenomenon. This study can inform future development of interventions and targeted health promotion programmes in enhancing adherence.

This study examined strength-based parenting scores rated by a large youth sample ( N = 2,449; M = 15.03 years ± 2.94; 55.7% female; 44.3% male) collected from 9 countries classified as collectivistic (Indonesia, Israel [Arab citizens], Kazakhstan, Macau, Peru, Turkey, and Uzbekistan) or individualistic (Australia and Germany). Psychometric evaluation of the Strength-Based Parenting Questionnaire (SBPQ) showed factorial validity, strong internal consistency, and strong test re-test reliability. Strict measurement invariance was found between the two cultural groupings and across the seven language versions of the SBPQ, providing confidence that the SBPQ is a tool that can be used in cross-cultural research. Youth from individualistic countries perceived parents to have higher knowledge of their strengths; however, Cohen’s d of 0.13 indicated that the difference was very low. There was no significant difference on ratings of parents encouraging them to use their strengths. Overall, the findings suggest that youth perceptions about strength-based parenting may be more common, than different, across the two cultural categories. By establishing the psychometric robustness of the SBPQ in collectivistic and individualistic youth samples, this study has opened the door for increased cross-cultural research into the antecedents, moderators, and outcomes of strength-based parenting.

This study aims to translate the Strength-Based Parenting Questionnaire Parent-Version (SBP-Q-PV) into Malay and describe its validation process among Malaysian parents. In Phase 1, the forward-backward translation process of the SBP-Q-PV into Malay was described. In Phase 2, the Malay SBP-Q-PV validation process was conducted (n1 = 180), and the hypothesized factor structure was verified (n2 = 100). The principal component analysis derived a 14-item two-factor model. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the model demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit indices (χ2/df = 1.75; CFI = 0.95, NFI = 0.88, TLI = 0.93, PNFI = 0.74) and accounted for 63.87% of the total variance explained. All items were loaded into the same domain as the original questionnaire. The final questionnaire recorded excellent internal consistency estimates of 0.92 and 0.95 in Study 1 and Study 2, respectively. Both the strengths-knowledge subconstruct and the strengths-use subconstruct of the Malay SBP-Q-PV also scored good Cronbach’s α estimates (α ≥ 0.80) in Study 1 and Study 2. The convergent validity evaluated via the Parenting Authority Questionnaire and discriminant validity evaluated via the Satisfaction with Life Scale demonstrated moderately positive correlations (r > 0.30). This initial study shows that the 14-item Malay SBP-Q-PV yielded two factors and demonstrated acceptable reliability values among Malay-speaking parents. However, additional research is required to validate the questionnaire further.