Unpaid caregiving and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic—A systematic review of the quantitative literature

J Ervin; LF Alfonzo; Y Taouk; H Maheen; T King

Journal article

Unpaid caregiving and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic—A systematic review of the quantitative literature

J Ervin, LF Alfonzo, Y Taouk, H Maheen, T King

Plos One | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2024

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297097

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic imposed additional and specific challenges on the lives and wellbeing of informal unpaid carers. Addressing an important gap in the existing literature, this systematic review (prospectively registered with PROSPERO CRD42022376012) synthesises and evaluates the quantitative evidence examining the association between unpaid caregiving and mental health (compared to non-caring), during the pandemic. Five databases were searched (Medline, PsycInfo, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science) from Jan 1, 2020, to March 1, 2023. Population-based, peer-reviewed quantitative studies using any observational design were included, with screening, data extraction and quality assessment (amend..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Yamna Taouk Author

Humaira Maheen Author

Tania King Author

Ludmila Fleitas Alfonzo Author

Related Projects (1)

HIDDEN IN THE MARGINS: THE LIVES AND TRAJECTORIES OF YOUNG CARERS

This project aims to examine the social, educational, economic and health-related experiences of young informal carers. One of the most unre..

Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a Melbourne School of Population and Global Health Targeted Research Support Grant and an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project (LP180100035), both awarded to TK. TK is supported by an ARC Discovery Early Career Award (DE200100607). The funders did not have any involvement in the design or conduct of any part of the study.