Changes in psychiatric health care and increased reliance on outpatient care have resulted inthe transfer of responsibility for care from psychiatric services to social networks. Youngperson’s therefore often take responsibility during their own sensitive phase of emergingadulthood for the care of a loved one who suffers from mental illness.The overall aim of this study was to learn how young persons who provide care and support toa person with mental illness handle their everyday lives. This study also aimed to evaluateweb-based versus folder support for these young informal carers. The papers in this thesis usequalitative descriptive (I), comparative (II), mixed methods (III), and experimental (IV)design approaches. Participants were recruited twice: first, 12 participants were recruited forthe qualitative papers and interviewed; then 241 participants were included in theinterventions and sent self-administered questionnaires by email or the regular postal serviceat the start of the intervention (T1), after 4 months (T2), and after 8 months (T3) during 2010and 2011. Young informal carers (YIC) managed their everyday lives and unexpectedstressors from their perceived responsibility for the supported person by relying on their ownabilities and their social networks and by maintaining a constant state of readiness in casesomething should happen to the supported person. Supporting a person in the family can havehigher positive subjective value than supporting a friend. Although friends perceived that theyreceived more support. They often did not share their situation with others and felt that othersdid not understand what they were going through; even when YIC did share their burden withtheir social networks, they felt either that they were ignored or that others did not know howto act or what to say. YIC often experienced a lack of appropriate, available, and seriousprofessional support. They thought that support from professionals might improve their caringsituation and that it might ease their burden if the person with mental illness had moreprofessional care and support.Baseline stress levels were high in both intervention groups (web-based support versusinformational folder), but decreased in the folder group. The folder group showed moreimprovement in their caring situation than the web group, and improvements in general selfefficacy,well-being, and quality of life. The web group also showed improved well-being.Non-significant differences between the groups indicate that each intervention could be usefuldepending upon the individual’s preference. This highlights the importance of adopting aperson-centred approach to offer young persons the appropriate support.
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