Efficacy of psychosocial interventions for young offspring of parents with a serious physical or mental illness: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Serious parental physical or mental illness significantly increases the risk of adverse adjustment outcomes in adolescents and young adults. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the efficacy of psychosocial interventions targeting this vulnerable group. Eligible randomized control trials (RCTs) were searched through the Medline, Web of Science, PsycINFO, PsycArticles, Cinahl, and ProQuest Dissertation and Theses databases. Young offspring outcomes included: psychological (including internalizing and externalizing problems), positive, and interpersonal adjustment. Thirty-one manuscripts reporting on twenty-seven independent RCTs, including 3590 adolescent and young adult offspring, met eligibility criteria. Most of the studies targeted adolescents with a mean age within ±1 SD of 12.17–16.33 years, with only one study directly targeting young adults. Three-quarters of studies included parental mental illness, and the remaining parental physical illness. Results highlighted a small post-intervention effect for psychological adjustment (d = 0.17,[0.05,0.29], p = .006), maintained at short-term (3–12 months) follow-up (d = 0.33 [0.12,0.54], p = .002), but not at long-term (15 months or longer) follow-up (d = −0.00 [−0.19,0.19], p = .98). A similar pattern emerged for internalizing problems, while for externalizing problems, no significant post-intervention effect was detected. Results also showed a small post-intervention effect for positive adjustment (d = 0.36,[0.10,0.61], p = .006), which increased to a medium effect at short-term follow-up (d = 0.62,[0.15,1.09], p = .010). Post-intervention effects were not present for interpersonal adjustment. Intervention duration moderated effects on post-intervention outcomes, while intervention setting and gender balance moderated outcomes at follow-ups. Psychosocial interventions for young offspring of parents with serious illnesses appear effective in improving psychological and positive outcomes with small-to-moderate effects at post-intervention and short-term follow-up.