ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2025
The prevalence, characteristics, and psychological wellbeing of unpaid carers in the United Kingdom.
Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The qualitative accounts of black informal carers of people with psychosis and their experiences accessing mental health services: a systematic review.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Pooled it
- Unpaid dementia carers: a scoping review of the caregiving trajectory and changing short break needs.Frontiers in health services · 2025Pooled it
- The Psychological Impact of Caring for a Parent With Cancer on Adult Children of South Asian Heritage: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis.Psycho-oncology · 2026Article
- Colombian validation of the short-form coping and adaptation processing scale in caregivers.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2026Article
- Editorial: Breaks that benefit: international evidence to support innovation in research, policy, and practice around unpaid carer short breaks.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Emotional labor, well-being, and professional development among university teachers: a qualitative study from a job demands-resources perspective.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis study sought to describe the characteristics of unpaid carers in the UK and assess levels of depression, anxiety, and mental health treatment seeking behaviours in this population.
methodsData was derived from Wave 9 (n = 2790) of the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) study, a longitudinal survey of adults in the UK. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the characteristics of unpaid carers, association between caregiver status and psychological wellbeing, and caregiver-specific factors associated with risk of poor psychological wellbeing.
resultsApproximately 15% (n = 417) of the sample reported providing unpaid care. Younger age, having three or more children in the household, and lower income were identified as significant correlates of caregiver status. Unpaid caregivers were at increased risk of depression or anxiety and mental health help-seeking. Unpaid caregivers who were younger, lived in households with one or two children, and had a lower income were at greater risk of depression or anxiety and engaging in mental health help-seeking. Caring for an individual with a terminal illness, long-term illness, learning disability or difficulty, mental health problems, physical disability, and other were linked to increased risk of depression or anxiety, while caring for someone with a learning disability increased risk of mental health help-seeking.
conclusionsThis study indicates that at least one in eight people in the UK provide unpaid care, and that those who provide unpaid care have a far higher risk of experiencing depression or anxiety and seeking mental health treatment. The identification of risk factors associated with these mental health outcomes will facilitate the identification of those in most need of support.
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