Pilot Evaluation of a Psychoeducation Group for Family Caregivers of Children and Adolescents With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (CPG-CA) in China

In China, most children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BDs) are living with families. With an extreme scarcity of child and adolescent mental health care resources in China, the primary caregiving responsibility for children and adolescents with E/BDs is laid on families. However, caregiving for children and adolescents with E/BDs could be challenging, and family caregivers of children and adolescents with E/BDs often describe their caregiving experiences as exhausting and burdensome. To date, very few interventions in China have been designed to relieve caregiver burden among family caregivers of children and adolescents with E/BDs. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a randomized, wait-list controlled pilot trial to preliminarily evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the CPG-CA intervention, a group psychoeducational intervention for family caregivers of children and adolescents with E/BDs, in reducing caregiver burden among family caregivers of children and adolescents with E/BDs in China. This pilot trial will lay the groundwork for a major trial that will be conducted in future studies.