The experience of young carers in Australia: a qualitative systematic review and meta-ethnographic synthesis

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flowchart of systematic literature review process (Page et al., 2021).

Table 1. Characteristics of included studies.

Study	Year	Authors	Data collection method	Sample size	Age range	Gender ratio (M,F)	Ethnicity	Details of care provided	Checklist items met
1	2018	McDougall et al.	Semi-structured interviews	13	14–25	6,7	Aus, UK	12 = current YC, 1 = former. 4 = primary carers, 9 = secondary.	9
2	2011	Smyth et al.	Focus groups, interviews, and a short survey	68	12–25	NA	NA	Physical (ADLs), household (ADLs), medical, emotional, social support	10
3	2009	Moore et al.	Structured telephone interviews and a group interview	51 (44 phone, 7 group interview)	12–21	22,29	Generally non-Indigenous nor culturally or linguistically diverse.	21 primary carers, 30 secondary. Relatives with physical, intellectual, sensory disabilities.	7
4	2022	Dawes et al.	Semi-structured interviews	16 children, 10 adults	6–10, 4–18	13,13	Asian (31%), European (8%), Australasian (61%)	Family member with ABI	9
5	2017	Hamilton and Cass	Semi-structured interviews	30	17–25	NA	NA	Personal, household, emotional care.	6
6	2010	Moore et al.	Semi-structured interviews and activities	15: 12 interviews 3 in a focus group)	11–17	7,8	NA	AOD	9
7	2010	Smyth et al.	11 focus groups across interviews, and a short survey.	68 young carers, 16 service providers	11–25 (young carers)	NA	NA	NA	9
8	2007	Moore and McArthur	Face to face, semi-structured interviews	50	9–24	26,24	9 First Nations, 10 CALD	Care for family member (AOD, MI, disability).	8
9	2010	Moore et al.	1:1 interviews and a workshop	15	11–17	7,8	NA		8
10	2012	Hamilton and Adamson	Semi-structured interviews	36	7–25	19,14	NA	Family members with (AOD, MI, disability)	8
11	2021	Day	Semi-structured interviews	13	18–25	1,12	NA	62% cared for parent, 31% sibling, wide range of care needs.	10
12a	2005	Morrow	Questionnaires	54	6–18	31,25	Aus, India, NZ, Singapore	Physical, intellectual, psychological, Other.	6
12b	2005	Morrow	Semi-structured interviews with members of community	Unclear	NA	NA	NA		6
13	2004	Fudge and Mason	Focus groups, peer interviews	58	7–20	22,28 (8 NA)	NA	Parent with a mental illness	8
14	2010	Foster	Unstructured narrative interview and written narrative data.	10	25–57	2,8	Primarily Anglo-Saxon and Australian	Parents with mental illness: 9 mothers, 2 fathers	8
15	2011	Reupert et al.	Semi-structured interviews	12	8–15	6,6	1 indigenous	Mother/father, dual diagnosis	8
16	2018	Watson and Fox	Interviews using participatory methodology	12	12–17	6,6	NA	primary carer for a family member with physical or mental health problem	10
17	2021	Dunkley-Smith et al.	Semi-structured interviews	10	18–25	3,6,1 NB	White/European	Parents with MI	9

All participants were young carers unless specified. YC refers to young carers (typically 6–25 years old. The quality of each study was assessed using the 10-item JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research (Lockwood et al., 2017). NA means Not Available, indicating that this information was not available within the publication. ABI refers to acquired brain injury. ADLs refers to Activities of Daily Living. AOD refers to alcohol and other drug disorders. MI refers to mental illness. BPAD refers to Bi-polar affective disorder. NB refers to nonbinary.

Figure 2. JBI checklist aggregate responses.

The maximum response rate was 16 per item as Morrow’s (2005, 2005b) included studies were scored as a single article.

Table 2. Distribution of themes across the studies.

Theme	Authors
	McDougall et al. (2018)	Smyth, Blaxland, et al. (2011)	Moore et al. (2009)	Dawes et al. (2022)	M. Hamilton and Cass (2017)	Moore, et al. (2010)	Smyth, Cass, et al. (2011)	Moore and McArthur (2007)	Moore, McArthur, et al. (2010)	M. G. Hamilton and Adamson (2012)	Day (2021)	Morrow (2005, 2005b)	Fudge and Mason (2004)	Foster (2010)	A. Reupert et al. (2011)	Watson and Fox (2018)	Dunkley-Smith et al. (2021)
Onset
Born into Caring	X				X					X
Natural Progression					X					X				X
The Role Itself
Diversity of Tasks	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Diversity of Care Recipients	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Uncertainty & Unpredictability	X		X		X	X			X		X	X	X	X	X	X
Attitudes Towards Caring	X	X	X	X		X	X	X				X	X	X	X
Supports
Lack of Access	X		X	X		X		X	X			X	X				X
Denial or Ignorance of Need	X							X				X	X	X
Distrust	X		X			X		X	X					X			X
Respite	X	X	X			X			X			X	X
Psychosocial Toll
Social	X		X		X				X			X	X	X
Academic	X	X	X		X	X			X	X		X	X
Psychological	X	X	X		X	X			X	X		X	X	X	X	X	X
Constraints	X				X	X				X	X			X
Family & Relationships	X	X				X		X	X			X	X	X	X
Benefits		X										X	X				X

Figure 3. Visual representation of the young carer experience.

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