The effect of mindfulness-based interventions on mental health outcomes and wellbeing of informal caregivers of people with mental illness: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis of 13 studies with 1007 participants found that mindfulness-based interventions reduce stress, depression, and caregiver burden, and improve mindfulness and quality of life among informal caregivers of people with mental illness. The interventions did not significantly reduce anxiety. The analysis showed a large effect on stress reduction and moderate effects on depression and mindfulness, with smaller improvements in quality of life and caregiver burden. The authors call for more rigorous research to confirm these benefits.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of mental illness has resulted in a growing burden on informal caregivers. Mindfulness-based interventions, as a form of psychotherapy, have shown efficacy in alleviating psychological stress and enhancing emotional and physical well-being. However, the utilisation of mindfulness-based interventions for informal caregivers of individuals with mental illness remains limited. The aim of the meta-analysis is to evaluate the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on the mental health and well-being among informal caregivers of people with mental illness. A comprehensive literature search was conducted across seven electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, APA PsycINFO and CINAHL Ultimate) from the inception of these databases until 20 July 2023. Two authors independently screened the studies and extracted the relevant data. The meta-analysis was performed by using Stata 12.0 software, and the effect sizes were calculated utilising standardised mean difference (SMD) along with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). The meta-analysis included 13 studies with 1007 participants, and the results demonstrated that mindfulness-based interventions were efficacious in reducing stress (SMD = -0.80, 95% CI [-1.33, -0.28], p = 0.003), depression (SMD = -0.43, 95% CI [-0.62, -0.24], p < 0.001) and caregiver burden (SMD = -0.21, 95% CI [-0.40, -0.01], p = 0.038), and enhancing the mindfulness level (SMD = 0.37, 95% CI [0.09, 0.65], P = 0.010) and quality of life (SMD = 0.22, 95% CI [0.04, 0.39], p = 0.015) among informal caregivers of people with mental illness, but not on anxiety reduction (SMD = -0.19, 95% CI [-0.49, 0.10], p = 0.198). Furthermore, future research should aim to employ more rigorous methodologies to confirm the effectiveness.