Method

This research overview is based on a systematic overview of research studies from the Nordic countries published between the years 2018 and 2022. Searches were conducted in international and national databases in all the Nordic countries and in the various Nordic languages as well as in English. These systematic searches were conducted in March–May 2022 with the help of staff from the library at Dalarna University.

Inclusion criteria were teenage boys/young men aged 15–30 years. The included studies were conducted in one or more of the Nordic countries and were published in the years 2018–2022. Some longitudinal studies that compared health-related factors before and after the pandemic were included even though they were sometimes initiated before the defined time period for this overview. Studies that included individuals who were younger than 15 or in some cases over 30 years old at the start of the survey were also included in this overview, as the longitudinal approach meant that they were relevant to this research overview.

Exclusion criteria were serious mental illness, i.e. psychiatric conditions that are expressed in the form of a syndrome that can be verified based on various diagnostic criteria. Physical/somatic diseases such as rheumatism, cardiovascular disease, etc. in relation to COVID-19 were also excluded.

Furthermore, all studies where the findings section did not clearly show findings for teenage boys/young men in age group 15–30 years were excluded. The searches generated a large number of multinational studies concerning COVID-19 in which one or more Nordic countries participated along with many other countries. Most of these studies reported data on the number of men and women participants. However, when looking at the studies more closely, one of the following criteria for this research overview was often missing: the right age group, gender or country at the variable level, which meant that the study was excluded.

The systematic searches were also supplemented with other relevant studies and reports from organisations and public authorities, which were searched more broadly. This search was conducted by KvinnSam, the national library for gender research at the University of Gothenburg.

The databases where the search was conducted are set out in Appendix 1.

At the start of this assignment, it was difficult to imagine the quantity of scholarly articles that have been written on the topic of young men’s ill-health in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, school, the workplace and masculinity. The searches for relevant articles yielded several thousand hits concerning young men’s health linked to school, the workplace, masculinity and the pandemic. The search terms were sometimes adjusted, but even after some limitations were put in place, a very large number of published articles from the period 2018–2022 remained. The work included reading and analysing the abstracts to identify relevant studies. It was clear on closer examination of the studies that among the articles concerning the pandemic for example, it was possible to separate out data and/or statistics concerning young men as a group in only a few cases. The search was later supplemented with reports written in each country in the Nordic region. The presentation of the results thus includes both scholarly articles and relevant reports.

In spite of this broad search, there are certainly studies that have been missed, in the original time period and those that have been published in the last year. This research overview does not claim to be complete, but rather describes in broad terms what the identified studies show. It should be seen primarily as a snapshot of a broad field of research on young men’s health and ill-health that relates to school, the workplace and masculinity. The period studied was very unusual because it was marked by the pandemic, varying restrictions and varying degrees of social isolation that affected all of us, including boys and young men. The research overview also seeks to reproduce research with a particular focus on the latter.

The search term “covid-19/corona och psykisk ohälsa”(COVID-19/coronavirus and mental ill-health) resulted in 781 studies, of which 23 studies were included after reading them and assessing their relevance. The basis for the selection was that 1) teenage boys or young men aged 15–30 were highlighted in the study; and 2) that the study had been conducted in one of the Nordic countries.

However, it was rarely possible to specifically identify the group ‘young men aged 15–30’ in these studies. Either the age group was wider, for example 18–40 years old, or the correct age group in one or other of the Nordic countries was combined with the same age group in countries outside the Nordic region. This made it impossible to discern young men in a Nordic country in this group.

The search term ”skola, arbetsliv och psykisk ohälsa” (school, the workplace and mental ill-health) resulted in 2307 identified studies and the search term ”psykisk ohälsa och maskulinitet” (mental ill-health and masculinity) resulted in 3406 search results. The most relevant articles were identified and included after reading the summary and findings of each study. The basis for the selection was that 1) teenage boys or young men aged 15–30 were highlighted in the study and 2) that the study had been conducted in one of the Nordic countries. Based on these criteria, about 200 articles remained from each search. The findings/results sections of these more than 400 articles were read through in their entirety.

The search process concerning “mental ill-health and masculinity” generated 3619 studies. After an assessment of their content, 220 of these studies were included for further analysis and to be used in the discussion.

Given the scope of this research overview, it is not possible to present all relevant studies in detail. It was necessary to impose limitations. A number of themes became apparent in the included studies and these themes have been named below. A few studies have been highlighted within each theme that specifically shed light on the area. Since young men’s ill-health is the focus, the overview presents studies that concern schools and the workplace and which relate to ill-health or behaviours related to ill-health in terms of either causes of ill-health or consequences, i.e. factors that lead to ill-health. The results of the studies are discussed in relation to masculinities.

In the research compiled in this overview, a variety of terms are used for similar concepts, for example, the investigated group may be called “boys”, “young men”, “guys” etc. In the commentary on the individual studies, the original terminology is used. In analyses of the research compiled in this overview, however, “young men” is used throughout to denote the group.