Prevalence and quality of life of 11–15-year-old adolescent young carers in France: a school-based study

Our study aimed to establish the prevalence of adolescent young carers (AYCs) among 11–15-year-old French adolescents and explore the impacts of caring on these youths through a comprehensive evaluation of their quality of life. A total of 1983 middle school pupils (mean age = 12.89; 56.23% females) completed self-reported questionnaires evaluating their sociodemographic characteristics, illness/disability in their family, caring activities (MACA-YC18), quality of life (KIDSCREEN-52), perceived health, and academic performance. Descriptive analyses, Chi-square tests of independence, Student’s t -tests, and analysis of variance and of covariance were conducted. The results showed that 12.25% of middle school pupils were AYCs. They were mostly females, coming from disadvantaged economic backgrounds. The ill/disabled relative was typically a parent, and 23.87% of respondents reported having more than one ill/disabled relative. The AYCs more often declared an illness or a disability and reported lower quality of life scores than their peers in several dimensions: Physical Well-Being, Psychological Well-Being, Moods and Emotions, Self-Perception, Autonomy, Relations with Parents and Home Life, Financial Resources, School Environment, Social Acceptance. No differences were identified in the Social Support and Peers dimension. Given the high prevalence of AYCs in middle schools and the impact of the situation on their lives, special support should be provided for AYCs, and professionals at school should be trained to better identify and assist AYCs.