Emerging adulthood is a crucial period in a person’s development, when many behaviours are established and the emergence of certain conditions such as mental ill-health shape future health and circumstances in life (Arnett, 2000). Unemployment and early exclusion from education and training and the labour market risk affecting health and well-being at the individual level, but also constitute an economic burden at the societal level.

The concept of social health focuses on the relationship between the individual’s ill-health and the organisational and social structures that surround the individual, as well as questions about social interaction and supportive relationships. A mutual dependency between the school’s capacity to support pupils and the pupil’s capacity to remain in school is demonstrative of the relationship between the individual and organisational and social structures. Ill-health can lead to poor attachment in education and training, but it also works the other way around – that the conditions that prevail in schools exceed the pupil's capacity and the school context can generate ill-health. School absences are a major problem and lead to lost schooling and loss of relationships, making it harder to gain an upper secondary school qualification. Gaining an upper secondary school qualification represents an important transition in life for future educational opportunities and employment, and completion of school education is therefore an important goal for both the individual and society.

Thus, there are major health benefits in both the short and long term if young people complete basic and further education and training, and are integrated into the workplace. But mental ill-health can also be an effect of organisational and structural conditions in schools and workplaces and additionally in contexts where masculinity norms are upheld.

High levels of school absenteeism from compulsory school is a serious problem. As part of a Danish study by Dannow, Esbjørn and Risum (2020) of pupils with high absenteeism, three lower secondary school boys and their parents were interviewed. The study shows that students with anxiety-related school absences experienced that they were motivated to go to school. However, many school-related factors such as social (e.g. pupil–teacher, pupil–peer relationships) and structural (e.g. academic level, learning environment) were experienced as having a negative effect on the pupil’s capacity to attend school. When it came to absence-related factors associated with the parents, families reported that they were in need of guidance from professionals to effectively eliminate school absences, but it was found that the school as an organisation was absent in this context, leaving the parents with the primary responsibility.

At the individual level, ambivalence about schooling emerged, which means conflicting thoughts about going to school. The cause was anxiety, which also caused frustration due to missed schooling and missed social relationships. One of the boys described these conflicting feelings thus:

 I think that it’s a big pity [not going to school] because I want to go and see all my friends and say 'hi.' And it’s really, it’s really, really a shame that I can’t go and see them." (Bjørn).

At the school and organisational level, it was large gatherings with many pupils in the class that were the obstacle. There were also challenges at the relationship level between teacher and pupil, and between the pupils in the class. When the individual does not feel that they belong in the class, has had negative experiences of relationships and has few friends, this was experienced as challenging by the boys in the study. This study shows that the school context plays an important role in anxiety-related school absences.

A Danish study of upper secondary school pupils (S. Andersen, Davidsen, Nielsen & Tolstrup, 2021) shows that the drop-out rate from school was highest among first-year pupils and among those pupils who were languishing (felt a lack of engagement). This group, as well as pupils who felt emotionally challenged or had moderate mental health, had a risk of dropping out of high school about 1.5 to 3 times higher than the group of flourishing pupils, and the gender distribution in the dropout group was comparable for younger men and women. Four groups were identified in the study: flourishing (young women: 38%, young men: 55%), moderate mental health (women: 15%, men: 20%), emotionally challenged (women: 28%, men: 15%) and languishing pupils (women: 19%, men: 10%). The drop-out rate from school was lowest in the flourishing group (men: 5.0%; women: 2.4%) and highest in the languishing group (men: 12.1%; women: 7.8%). This study points to the importance of paying particular attention during the first year of upper secondary school which is when most pupils drop out of school.

Although boys exhibit externalising behavioural problems to a higher degree than girls who tend to internalise, a Swedish study of pupils in year 9 (Bortes, Strandh & Nilsson, 2019) shows that both types of problems, i.e. both externalising and internalising problems have comparable negative effects on school performance. The study examined the relationship between health problems during lower secondary school and school grades in year 9. The study shows that girls in this age group are more likely to suffer from mental and behavioural disorders that require hospitalisation than boys, and that health problems of that kind have particularly strong negative impacts on school performance.

One study (Tiikkaja & Tindberg, 2021) analyses the relationship between poor school-related well-being and disabilities or ADHD among adolescents aged 15–18 in Sweden. Young people with disabilities or ADHD reported that their disability had a negative impact on their schooling and compared to peers without disabilities, those with disabilities have an increased risk of poor school-related well-being. This risk doubled for adolescents who reported having ADHD and there were mostly boys in this group. In summary, adolescents who have ADHD are a particularly vulnerable group in schools, being at greater risk of poor school-related well-being.

In a longitudinal Swedish study (Gunnarsdottir, Hensing & Hammarström, 2021), a group was monitored from the age of 16 to adulthood. Poor or weak contact and connectedness with school in adolescence were associated with depressiveness in adulthood, but there was no such association between a poor family climate such as relationship problems and later depressiveness.

A qualitative study (Logdberg, Nilsson & Kostenius, 2018) investigated how young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) in Sweden perceived their life experiences in relation to health and well-being. In the study, interviews were conducted with 16 participants aged 16–20 years who were unemployed and lacked the entry requirements for upper secondary school, or who had dropped out of school. Three themes emerged from the analysis that illustrate how these young people experienced their life experiences in relation to health and well-being: struggling with hardships in the absence of caring connections, feeling good when closely connected to others, and being forced to question what has been taken for granted. The young people described school as an unpredictable context where quarrels with other classmates, harassment from teachers and bullying occurred. They gave expression to experiences of psychological violence and abuse. One young boy said:

"… my teacher was harassing me too … He got on my case all the time when someone else in the class talked and told me to be quiet—not anyone else … He picked on me because I have ADD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder] and problems with concentration…" (18-year-old male, P8) (Logdberg et al., 2018).

Based on the young people’s narrated experiences in the study above, health can be understood as something created in relation to others and in relation to the person’s social and cultural context: as something dynamic and changeable, as the ability to adapt and respond to challenges, and finally as something that exists on a collective as well as individual level.

Mental health problems often begin in adolescence. Nevertheless, these problems are seriously under-treated in this age group. Young people must first identify the symptoms themselves, and secondly, they must have the courage to seek help. A survey among upper secondary school pupils in Norway (Haavik, Joa, Hatloy, Stain & Langeveld, 2019) showed that sex plays a significant, but not exclusive, role in a person’s propensity to seek professional help for mental health problems. Young women were better at identifying mental health problems associated with anxiety and trauma, knew more about where and how to seek help, but experienced more obstacles to actually seeking help due to costs and waiting times. When it came to utilising the health care system for the treatment of mental health problems, the effect of the person’s form of education was greater than the effect of sex.  

Boys’ tendency to seek help being less than that of girls is known from previous research. An interview study in Norway (Granrud, Bisholt, Anderzèn-Carlsson & Steffenak, 2020) investigated the propensity to seek help in upper secondary school among teenage boys aged 16–21. The study shows that it is challenging for teenage boys to visit the school nurse for mental health problems. Although the school health service is relatively easily accessible in schools, teenage boys experienced some obstacles to visiting the school nurse. Among other things, school nurses were sometimes responsible for several schools and were therefore not present at the same school every day. The boys wanted a more accessible school nurse and needed to feel that they could trust the school nurse to uphold their obligation to maintain professional secrecy. The boys felt that it was a violation of a norm to talk about mental health problems and they felt stigmatised. Once they had overcome these barriers, they felt positive about their visit to the school nurse and felt that they had gained a new perspective on their problems. The teenage boys stated that it was important to get a different view on their mental health problems:

"I get most advice about how I can deal with my problems. I get another point of view on my problems which makes it easier to handle it."

Young adults (16–30 years) who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) and have little or no contact with society are at great risk of becoming permanently excluded from society (Bäckman & Nilsson, 2016). Being excluded from society for a long time, sometimes permanently, has severe consequences for mental health with great suffering for the individual as a result.

Young adults who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are a problem in all European countries, including the Nordic countries. Other terms for this group that exist internationally are the Japanese word hikikomori and the Swedish term hemmasittare. The latter term describes socially withdrawn or isolated individuals who stay home from school, often for long periods of time (Ministry of Education, 2015). While it is sometimes a matter of temporary interruptions in the transition from school-to-school or school-to-work, or short-term inactivity, some young adults represent a more vulnerable group at risk of not gaining entry to the labour market. The NEET abbreviation is used to describe young people who lack a connection to both the labour and the education system. The NEET terminology has been criticised for not paying attention to the fact that there are differences within the group ‘young people’. Young people are unemployed for longer or shorter periods of time, young people take care of their children, are temporarily ill or permanently disabled and some take only a short break from work or education for travel (Furlong, 2006). However, the NEET indicator is considered to be a better measure than traditional measures of unemployment that measure job seeking in the shorter term (Bäckman & Nilsson, 2016).

In the third quarter of 2022, over 10% of 15–29-year-olds in Finland were not in education, employment or training (NEET), making it the Nordic country with the biggest problem with NEETs. In Sweden, the incidence was only 5.6%, the lowest of the five countries. Denmark and Norway were equal at 7.8% and Iceland had an incidence of 6.2%. In 2021, 13.1% of 15–29-year-olds were assessed as belonging to the NEET group in the EU. Despite the fact that all Nordic countries lie below the EU average, this is a problem that should be addressed because a large number of studies show that being NEET is a serious problem for the individual that can have negative health consequences. Below is a selection of different studies that all deal with NEETs.

Understanding why young people drop out of school is of great importance to understanding people who are NEET. In an interview study, Ramsdal, Bergvik & Wynn (2018) conducted interviews with seven young adults who had dropped out of school. The study indicated that internalised symptoms may be problematic to identify. In this study, a combination of more severe internalising symptoms and a lack of appropriate adult support is described as the cause of difficulties in establishing an autonomous adult life, years after having dropped out of upper secondary school. Those who dropped out stated that their problems were not noticed by their teachers or the other pupils. Their internalised symptoms and learning difficulties were therefore not given much attention in the classroom, which resulted in them largely having to fend for themselves. These young adults experienced a lack of support and lack of access to resources while they struggled to stay in school. One of the young men said:

“Well, there have been periods when I have been kind of depressed and stuff, by social things, with my schoolwork going down the drain.”

One example of this was the fact that, among the six participants who experienced mental health problems, only one stated that there were outreach initiatives from their school during their school years. The others only got help after they dropped out.

A study that addressed the conditions and circumstances that risk leading to a status of NEET was conducted in Northern Norway in a multicultural young adult population (Bania, Eckhoff & Kvernmo, 2019). The purpose of this study was to investigate predictors of a NEET status: its frequency and development over time. The study is based on self-reports from the participants followed up by a study based on register analyses 8–10 years later. In the first study, all 5877 year 10 pupils in Northern Norway aged 15–16 years participated, representing 83% of the total age group from all 87 municipalities. The follow-up studies included 3987 young people, 365 of whom were of Sami ethnicity.

The study showed that a NEET status in young adulthood was clearly higher among women (20.9%) than among men (16.2%). There were ethnic differences too: a NEET status among Sami men was clearly higher than among non-Sami men, being 23.0% and 15.2%, respectively. The study identified important causes of a NEET status. In male participants, these causes concerned peer problems, behavioural problems and musculoskeletal problems. Hyperactivity problems and relationship problems were associated with a NEET status emerging later among young women. The level of education of the participants’ parents was an important factor for a NEET status, where a low level of education is clearly associated with a NEET status subsequently emerging among both young adult men and women.

A Swedish qualitative in-depth study identified emotional stages that can be associated with the development of a NEET status (Hammarström & Ahlgren, 2019). In this longitudinal study, how young people classified as NEET experienced their health was analysed in relation to their position in the labour market, from the time of having left school to early adulthood. The study included six women and eight men in a town in northern Sweden who had become unemployed immediately after completing compulsory school. In-person interviews were conducted regularly with them from the age of 16 to the age of 33. The study shows that how they perceive their health develops through different phases: leaving school, entering the labour market, being unemployed, and gaining employment. The informants’ experiences during each of these phases included feelings of disappointment and setbacks, hopelessness and resignation, and finally – in the case of the individual finally getting a job – feeling that they needed to accept an adverse work situation. The study shows that how a person experiences their health can be linked to both context and process and was related to these different phases. It is a process where the young person initially feels relief and hope on completing compulsory school, but then entry into the labour market is related to setbacks and disappointments as well as both health-impairing and health-promoting experiences, depending on their actual position in the labour market. The overall theme of the study Living in the shadow of unemployment – an unhealthy life situation means that it is not only the actual situation of being unemployed that is problematic, but that the other phases are coloured by the young person’s previous experiences of unemployment. The study highlights that social processes affect and interact with how the individual experiences their health.

It is important to investigate what can prevent and counteract a NEET status. Norwegian register data were used to investigate whether early work experience in the teenage years (16–18 years) can help young people at risk of becoming NEETs to improve their chances of getting work or gaining entry to education and training programmes as a young adult, and whether early work experience is a protective factor (Ballo, Heglum, Nilsen & Bernstrøm, 2022). An entire birth cohort of about 50,000 individuals was included in the study and this cohort was followed from ages 16 to 29 years. The results show that early work experience is related to a lower risk of NEET for all, but the link was stronger for young people with disabilities and for young people who left school early. This finding supports the importance of early work experience as a potentially important protective factor against a later NEET status, especially among vulnerable young people.

That depressive symptoms are associated with unemployment is already known, but a Danish study investigated whether the timing and duration of depressive symptoms in the teenage years, or education level attained, affect NEET in young adulthood (at 23 years of age) (Veldman et al., 2022). The incidence of depressive symptoms was measured on three occasions: at the ages of 14, 18 and 21. Among boys, depressive symptoms at ages 14 and 21 increased the risk of NEET. Among girls, this risk was related to depressive symptoms at ages 18 and 21. The duration of depressive symptoms among boys increased the risk of NEET. Among girls, only prolonged depressive symptoms increased the risk of NEET. Thus, both the timing and duration of depressive symptoms in the teenage years are significant for a NEET status in young adulthood. Those with both depressive symptoms and low levels of education are particularly at risk. The results underline the importance of support for those experiencing depressive symptoms in the transition from school to work. In addition, the study suggests that boys who exhibit depressive symptoms in their early teens need attention.

Early exclusion from the labour market entails a risk of mental ill-health and impaired well-being. In a Norwegian study, self-perceived causes of ill-health and social and health-related problems were investigated among young adults at risk of early work disability (Sveinsdottir, Eriksen, Baste, Hetland & Reme, 2018). 96 young adults participated in the study, the average age was 24 years, and two-thirds were men. One third of the young adults in the study reported reading and writing difficulties, and 40% had an education level lower than an upper secondary school qualification. The majority had experienced bullying (66%) or violence (39%) and 53% reported dangerous alcohol use.

Anxiety is the most common health problem, and women generally report more physical and mental health problems than men. Self-perceived causes are mainly related to relationship problems followed by health behaviours, heredity/genetics and external environmental factors. This study provides an in-depth insight into a vulnerable group’s significant challenges related to negative social experiences, anxiety and alcohol use. Relationship problems are highlighted as the main cause of ill-health.

In the same study population as above, the authors also examined whether Supported Employment (IPS, Swedish abbreviation for individuell placering och stöd) can be an effective initiative to help people with mental illnesses to gain employment (Sveinsdottir et al., 2020). Young adults in particular are at risk of early work disability due to various social and health-related problems. Participants who belonged to the NEET group received temporary benefits due to social or health-related problems and were eligible for traditional vocational rehabilitation (TYR, Swedish abbreviation for "traditionell yrkesinriktad rehabilitering”). Self-reported data was collected at the start and at six- and twelve-month follow-ups. The primary goal of the participants during the follow-up period was to get some form of paid employment in the competitive labour market. Physical and mental health, well-being, coping, alcohol consumption and drug use were also investigated.

Significantly more IPS participants had got jobs in the competitive labour market compared to TYR participants at the 12-month follow-up: 48% versus 8%. The IPS group reported significantly better results than the TYR group on subjective assessments of health problems, helplessness and hopelessness. The IPS group also reported significantly better results in terms of disability levels, optimism about future well-being, and drug use. The study shows that supported employment is more effective than vocational rehabilitation for young adults at risk of early work disability in gaining employment in the competitive labour market.

A Danish observational and interview study on activation programmes for young adults (J. H. Andersen, Tjornhoj-Thomsen, Reventlow & Davidsen, 2019) shows that the possibilities of addressing the complexity of the participants’ problems within the programme are limited. Although the young adults expressed the complexity of their problems during the activities in the programme, these activities were dominated by ‘biographical techniques’, which meant that the participants were themselves responsible for their own biographies and were expected to be able to solve their problems themselves. The programme included physical activity, exercises in cooperation, and exercises for personal change, such as achieving a healthy lifestyle, setting goals, breaking negative behavioural patterns, changing negative thoughts and structuring their everyday lives. The participants’ specific diagnoses or mental health problems were rarely talked about and then only when initiated by the participant. However, many participants felt that the activities were irrelevant. Those who appreciated the programme felt that it was nice to have something to get up for every day, and they enjoyed the company of others and liked the mentors. What made the programme meaningful to them was the social interaction rather than its content.

Young adults aged 20 to 30 who were long-term unemployed were interviewed about their lives in Finland (Husu & Ylilahti, 2020). Most of the participants described feelings of not belonging anywhere, and a lack of trust in family relationships and/or peer relationships had arisen. According to them, this had arisen either as a result of a comparison process, i.e. that others had something that they do not have, or through experiences of neglect. The lack of emotional capital arising from these young adults’ early life histories, which was then repeated in various contexts such as school and in peer relationships, could lead to mental health problems and a feeling of alienation in adulthood. There is consensus that emotional capital is related to parental emotional engagement and investment in the child’s well-being, and that it involves emotional skills and assets that children can attain through family relationships. The lack of emotional capital can have long-term consequences, right into adulthood.

Difficulties such as mental ill-health during one’s school years affect both the transition to the workplace and the type of work that is then available. Young unskilled workers, including those who drop out of school, have been identified as particularly vulnerable groups, for example when it comes to occupational accidents. Apprentices and young skilled workers are vulnerable to work-related diseases.

In an overview concerning the Nordic countries, mechanical factors such as heavy lifting, psychosocial factors such as poor control over the pace of work and organisational factors such as the occupational health and safety environment are all associated with increased risk of injury for young workers in the Nordic countries (Hanvold et al., 2019). Heavy lifting and awkward postures are risk factors for lower back pain, and high demands in jobs are risk factors for mental ill-health. Marginalisation from the labour market, i.e. serious difficulties in finding and keeping a job, are common among young adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In a population-based register study (Helgesson et al., 2021), more than 6000 young adults, aged 22–29 years, who had their first primary or secondary diagnosis of ADHD were examined. About 61% of young adults exhibit increased marginalisation after being diagnosed with ADHD. The study highlights the fact that the community should pay particular attention to young adults diagnosed with a low level of education and diagnosed with ADHD in order to avoid marginalisation.

A Danish study (Just-Noerregaard, Andersen, Nohr, Vestergaard & Winding, 2021) shows that employment and engagement in leisure activities during adolescence are important for young people in developing a stable connection to the labour market in adulthood. In both mid and later adolescence, part-time work was positively associated with education and training and work. Leisure activities in mid adolescence were also associated with connection to education and training and work. Among men, engagement with society in the form of leisure activities and part-time jobs in mid adolescence showed the strongest association with a later connection to education or work. The study shows that young people’s engagement in society correlates positively with later educational attainment and employment, with a stronger effect from part-time work compared to leisure activities.

Previous studies have shown that regular physical activity among teenagers has positive effects on their cognitive functions such as better working memory and attention and academic performance in school (Donnelly et al., 2017; Khan & Hillman, 2014). Being physically active is also important for working life, and a systematic overview shows that physical activity has positive effects on productivity, work performance and work-related well-being in both men and women (Conn, Hafdahl & Mehr, 2011). Regular physical activity promotes cognitive, emotional and motor function, and reduces anxiety and negative impacts. It has a preventive role in anxiety and depressive states, and facilitates psychological well-being in both adolescents and adults (Archer, Josefsson & Lindwall, 2014). Thus, physical activity has associations with both education and training and working life, and regular physical activity is related to well-being.

Physical activity is associated with mental health and a Finnish study (Appelqvist-Schmidlechner et al., 2020) among young adult men shows that physical activity during leisure time plays an important role, especially for men whose mental health is at a low level. In addition to lack of interest, time and energy, the study highlights unwillingness to play a sport alone as a significant cause of physical inactivity in this target group, which underlines the importance of social contexts. Being able to participate in various physical activities in social contexts during leisure time creates opportunities for socialising with others. The study shows that physical activity during leisure time that involves social interactions is especially important for men with a lower level of mental well-being.

Body image is about how an individual perceives their body and how they feel about it, including factors such as body weight, appearance and self-esteem. Previous studies show that a negative body image can negatively affect school performance in teenage boys and girls. A negative body image is related to low mood, lower self-esteem, and poorer school performance, but the effects may be more prominent in girls (Bucchianeri, Arikian, Hannan, Eisenberg & Neumark-Sztainer, 2013; Paxton, Neumark-Sztainer, Hannan & Eisenberg, 2006).

There is a strong connection between mental ill-health, education and training, and the workplace. Conditions in both schools and workplaces can lead to stress and mental ill-health. Mental ill-health also affects the individual’s motivation to complete their education and increases the risk of a precarious attachment to the labour market.

Young women generally have a higher degree of ill-health than young men, but other social factors also have important impacts on health, such as their parents’ level of education. Masculinity norms seem to be an obstacle to young men seeking help. In many of the studies, the results show that the education and training structures have failed to offer support to young men suffering mental ill-health. The studies presented here show that health problems such as depression and anxiety can lead to poor attachment to or non-completion of education and training and subsequent poor attachment to the labour market. A disruptive school environment, lack of organisation and support for young people in school and young workers can lead to ill-health. School, as it is organised today, risks leading to young people with social phobias or anxiety problems for example, not completing their education. They are then at risk of not entering the labour market at all.

When young men get support or care in the health care system, it seems that it is primarily social factors that are raised as health promoting, that is, being supported in expressing their feelings and talking about their experiences, being listened to and being part of a social context. Different measurements have been used to capture children’s and young people’s connection to school, including factors such as grades, participation and engagement, as well as affective dimensions such as liking school and feelings of belonging. Regardless of which factors are measured, connection to school has been shown to have a strong correlation with adolescents’ academic results and later depressive symptoms (Gunnarsdottir et al., 2021). Young people who have failed in school, i.e. those whose schooling has not been continuous and whose academic performance was poor, have a significantly higher risk of suicide attempts than those who performed better academically. The risk is particularly high (over six times higher) among those who dropped out of their schooling (Castellví et al., 2020).

Young people are particularly vulnerable to health problems when they are unemployed or in precarious employment. Active labour market and training programmes, including social security measures, improved working conditions and targeted health programmes are important for addressing this vulnerability (Vancea & Utzet, 2017). One aspect of being in education or training, or being in a workplace, is that these are important arenas for interventions and health promotion efforts.

Unemployment is linked to an increased risk of mental health problems, including depression and anxiety, among young adults. Precarious employment conditions are also linked to mental health problems, and young workers with precarious employment conditions are at an increased risk of mental health problems and poorer mental health compared to those who have more stable employment. Studies show that adverse working conditions, high work-related stress, a high workload and lack of support from the employer can affect mental health negatively.

This research overview suggests that young men who are not in employment and who feel depressed have an individualised and holistic need for support where social factors need to be considered and highlighted in conversations with them. The number of socially isolated young adults is high in multiple countries, according to figures from the International Labour Organization in 2014. However, it is important to emphasise that the group ‘socially isolated young adults’ is not a heterogeneous group but comprised of individuals with unique needs and a variety of circumstances in life. Many young adult men have experiences of poverty, trauma, violence and discrimination, which increases their risk of being marginalised and excluded. The studies presented in this research overview all point in the same direction, namely that efforts need to be tailored and individualised in order to be successful and provide the support expected.

In order to break the isolation of young NEETs, professionals need to motivate them to engage with society and strengthen and support their own capacity to act. There is a need for individual support measures as well as comprehensive and coordinated initiatives by professionals who encounter young adults in their work. Supporting young adults, and their often complex needs, requires a holistic approach. Such an approach is based on an empowerment-oriented perspective, where the unique needs of young adults are taken into account (Ayoub, Udo, & Randell, 2021). This means focusing on the person’s strengths and supporting and strengthening what is working in their lives so that these things can grow. It is therefore important that adults and professionals have the capacity and knowledge required to identify, interpret and understand the initial signs indicating that adolescents and young adults are experiencing negative emotions. Sveinsdottir et al. (2020) show that supported employment is a more effective approach than traditional vocational rehabilitation to helping people with health problems to find employment.

In order to tackle exclusion from education and training and the workplace, particular emphasis must be placed on supporting young people in upper secondary schools who are struggling with mental and physical health problems. In this research overview, a number of factors have been identified that are relevant for practice. Findings based on longitudinal population data for Norwegian adolescents show that early work experience in adolescence (ages 16–18) may reduce the risk of NEET status in early adulthood (ages 25–29). Taken together, the findings from studies of NEETs further indicate a need for a broad focus on psychological and social factors in vocational rehabilitation efforts targeting young adults at risk of early work disability. A comprehensive perspective and a holistic approach are needed. Supported employment has proven to be superior to vocational rehabilitation and should be offered in order to improve the rate of employment of young vulnerable adults with various health-related problems and barriers to employment. Active measures are needed to prevent and address the issue of NEETs, with concerted efforts from the school system, social services, the health care system and employment agencies, where the focus should be on health promotion efforts that strengthen the individual.

With an understanding of health as something dynamic and mutable, which exists in relationship to social contexts, communication and emotional states which are factors that are affected at the collective as well as the organisational and individual levels, it also becomes important to consider masculinity norms. Orienting oneself toward practices other than those traditionally associated with masculinity can break patterns that cause mental ill-health. Engaging with and caring for others, training emotional skills and the ability to express oneself are part of health promotion processes for young men.