The effect of informal caring on mental health among adolescents and young adults in Australia: a population-based longitudinal study

Abstract

Background: Young carers are people aged up to 25 years who provide unpaid care to a relative or a friend living with a long-term condition or a disability. Providing informal care is associated with poor mental health. Longitudinal evidence on this relationship among young people is scarce. To address this gap, we assessed the mental health of people aged 15–25 years when providing informal care compared with when not providing informal care. Methods: We conducted a population-based longitudinal study using 20 years of data between 2001 and 2020 from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. We included observations of participants aged 15–25 years with at least ..