RNQualitativeRevista brasileira de enfermagem2026

Family experiences in managing mental disorders in adolescents.

Roberto Corrêa Leite, Maria Giovana Borges Saidel, Edirlei Machado Dos Santos and 5 others

PMID 42524973

WHAT IT FOUND

Caregivers of adolescents with mental disorders described grief, guilt, stigma and constant vigilance.

Mothers adjusted routines and feared crises, suicide risk and treatment interruption, while seeking information and support.

Key findings

01Families reported grief, guilt, stigma and lack of support from public authorities and healthcare professionals.

02Mothers adjusted work and routines to accompany appointments and therapies, while living in constant readiness for the next crisis.

03Families feared treatment interruption and increased suicide risk, even while hoping for adolescent autonomy.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs

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What it does not show

Only six families and seven caregivers were studied, so the findings are not generalizable. Adolescents were not interviewed, so their own perspective is missing. All caregivers had higher education and health insurance, which may not represent families without those resources. The study was conducted virtually in Brazil, and recruitment used snowball sampling. It describes experiences and themes, not the effect of any treatment or nursing intervention.

Declared interests

Funded by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel; no conflict-of-interest declaration is reported in the supplied text.

The easy way to misread this

Do not treat this as evidence that nurse-led family support improves adolescent or family outcomes. It describes experiences of seven caregivers from six families, with no adolescent perspective and no measured outcomes.

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