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Community Mental Health Journal
Published in: Community Mental Health Journal 1/2020

01-01-2020 | Original Paper

A Systematic Review of Parent and Caregiver Mental Health Literacy

Authors: Diarmuid Hurley, Christian Swann, Mark S. Allen, Helen L. Ferguson, Stewart A. Vella

Published in: Community Mental Health Journal | Issue 1/2020

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Abstract

This study aimed to systematically review the current body of research on parent and caregiver mental health literacy. Electronic databases were searched in January 2018 with 21 studies meeting inclusion criteria. A narrative synthesis of quantitative and qualitative studies was conducted. Findings across studies suggest that parents and caregivers had limited mental health knowledge. Factors associated with help-seeking included cultural and religious beliefs, financial and knowledge barriers, fear and mistrust of treatment services, and stigma. Notable limitations include non-representative samples, cross-sectional research designs, and use of inconsistent and non-validated study measures. Research would benefit from more diverse samples, an increased focus on prevention, and controlled trials of educational programmes targeting mental health literacy.
Footnotes
1
Supplementary files documenting the search strategy, search returns and quality appraisal of individual studies are available from the authors upon request.
 
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Metadata
Title
A Systematic Review of Parent and Caregiver Mental Health Literacy
Authors
Diarmuid Hurley
Christian Swann
Mark S. Allen
Helen L. Ferguson
Stewart A. Vella
Publication date
01-01-2020
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Community Mental Health Journal / Issue 1/2020
Print ISSN: 0010-3853
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2789
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-019-00454-0

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