1*Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Psychology, Sikkim University, Gangtok (Sikkim)
2Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Sikkim University, Gangtok (Sikkim)
Background: Family caregivers of individuals with schizophrenia often experience significant psychological distress and diminished quality of life due to chronic patient symptoms and caregiving demands. While individual studies have highlighted risk factors, such as burden, and protective elements, such as social support, no recent synthesis has integrated global evidence on these psychosocial predictors, particularly across diverse cultural contexts.
Methods: This PRISMA 2020-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, SpringerLink, and ScienceDirect for studies published between 2015 and 2025. Fourteen quantitative studies (N=~2,500 caregivers) met inclusion criteria, focusing on psychosocial predictors (e.g., burden, support, coping) and outcomes (distress, quality of life). Random-effects models pooled correlation coefficients where k≥3; heterogeneity assessed via I².
Results: Caregiver burden showed moderate positive associations with psychological distress (pooled r=0.42, 95% CI [0.31-0.52], I²=48%, k=4) and strong negative associations with quality of life (r=-0.46, 95% CI [-0.57 to -0.33], I²=52%, k=3). Social support modestly buffered distress (r=-0.28, 95% CI [-0.41 to -0.15], I²=37%, k=3). Patient symptom severity correlated with higher burden (r=0.29, 95% CI [0.18-0.39], I²=41%, k=4). Adaptive coping and mutuality offered protection, though evidence was preliminary for some (k<3). Studies spanned Asia, Africa, and beyond, with moderate-high methodological quality.
Conclusions: Burden and symptoms consistently undermine caregiver well-being, whereas support and coping mitigate risks—key targets for family interventions and policy in low-resource settings. Future longitudinal research should clarify causality.
Funding Statement: This work was carried out without any funding.
Ethical Approval: There are no human subjects or animals involved in this study, which is a review of already published literature. As a result, institutional review board ethical approval was not necessary.
Conflict of Interest: The authors did not disclose any possible conflicts of interest.
Author Contributions: NB contributed to the design, implementation, and analysis of the results and the writing of the research manuscript; SR supervised the project.
Keywords: schizophrenia caregivers, caregiver burden, psychosocial predictors, meta-analysis, quality of life
How to cite this article: Bora N, Rai S. Determinants of Caregiver Mental Health and Quality of Life in Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Int J Drug Deliv Technol. 2026;16(10s): 398-410; DOI: 10.25258/ijddt.16.10s.51.
Source of support: Nil.
Conflict of interest: None