Original Article Murtala, et al (2019) 1 Bayero Journal of Nursing and Health Care ISSN: 2659-1464 bjnhc.nur@buk.edu.ng Maiden Edition , June 2019 Pages 1-10 Economic Burden and Coping Strategies of Caregivers of Children and Adolescents with Mental Illness Receiving Treatment in Hospitals in Kano State Murtala, H.H. 1 *, Haruna, S.G. 1 , Garba, S.N. 2 , Balarabe, F. 2 , Ibrahim A.H. 2 & Anyebe, E.E. 3 1 *College of Nursing and Midwifery, Birnin Kudu, Jigawa State, Nigeria 2 Department of Nursing Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria 3 Faculty of Health Sciences, National Open University of Nigeria, Abuja-Nigeria *Corresponding Author: Murtala, H.H. Corresponding Email: murtalahh@gmail.com, Introduction One-third of the world’s population is children and adolescents, with the majority living in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), in which, around 10 to 20 % suffer from a mental health problem (Kieling, Baker-Henningham, Belfer, Conti, Ertem, Omigbodun, et al., 2011). Worldwide in the field of mental health care, caregivers are central to patient’s care more especially in Africa where the extended family system provides most of the social and economic support needed for ill patients (Ndetei, Pizzo, Khasakhala, Maru, Mutiso and Ongecha- Owuor, 2009). Brodaty & Donkin (2009) stated that strains due to medical costs; missed work and patients’ economic dependency are considerable and are linked to both objective and subjective burden of caregivers. Caregiving on its own comes with several challenges and occasional distress, as the role of caring affects every aspect of the caregivers’ life. This consequence is formally Abstract Changes in family structures and drastic economic decline in Nigeria are threatening the health care services support available to children and adolescents with mental illnesses. The study was conducted among caregivers of children and adolescents with mental illness to find out the economic burden of care-giving to children and adolescents with mental illness and their opinion on coping strategies. Cross-sectional descriptive design was used. A total of 253 caregivers were recruited for the study using systematic random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was adapted from Burden Interview. Data collected were organised and analyse with SPSS version 23 and results were presented using frequency distribution tables and percentages, mean and standard deviation. The study revealed that majority (35.7%) of the caregivers’ experienced high economic burden, (33.6%) rated the burden as moderate while 20.7% rated it as mild. Majority (25.7%) of the caregivers were of the opinion that free or subsidised health services could help in overcoming caregivers’ challenges,48 (13.9%) identified provision of social services and special schools and 13.2%mentioned skill acquisition programmes and financial support. Improve coverage of National Health Insurance Scheme to all non-working class citizenry. Keywords: Economic Challenges, Coping Strategy, Caregivers, Mental Disorders, Children and Adolescents