Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The school-to-work transition (SWT) is a crucial developmental task for young people. However, external shocks such as an economic recession could create diverging destinies in the SWT transition. As reported by the International Labor Organization (2020), the COVID-19 economic crisis resulted in a major dislocation of young workers from the labor market. Unemployment is considered a health risk factor for young people.

Specifically, distress, increased risk of depression and anxiety are reported as consequences of youth unemployment. Likewise, adaptable school-to-work transition has important implications for long-term career and personal development and it is beneficial for mental health and against depression.

It is urgent to study how the difficulties in SWT create psychological vulnerabilities, mainly after the economic consequences of COVID-19.

This Special Issue aims to publish:
(a) incremental contributions to the STWT field in several highly original and innovative ways;
(b) longitudinal studies focused on the health consequences of youth unemployment condition (also defined as NEET status);
(c) applied studies that provide greater insight into the development of effective interventions.

Contributions have to follow one of the three categories of papers (article, conceptual paper or review) of the journal and address the topic of the Special Issue.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in IJERPH.

Dr. Anna Parola
Guest Editor

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Keywords

school-to-work transition
unemployment
NEET
career transitions
mental health
psychological distress

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 285 KiB

Open AccessArticle

“I Don’t Feel like an Adult”—Self-Perception of Delayed Transition to Adulthood in NEET Sample

by Anna Parola, Lucia Donsì and Santa Parrello

Societies 2023, 13(7), 167; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13070167 - 17 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1559

Abstract

Nowadays, there has been a debate about factors still crucial for the actual definition of adulthood and the role played by uncertainty in employment, the economic crisis, changing cultural contexts, and globalization in the adulthood transition. This study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the self-perception of the transition to adulthood among the Italian NEET (young people not engaged in education, employment, or training). A group of 53 NEETs were asked to assess their transition from adolescence to adulthood by rating themselves on a scale from 1 (=adolescence) to 7 (=adulthood). They were also asked to reflect on the reasons why they felt like adults or not. The qualitative data were coded using the criteria of adulthood attainment proposed by Arnett’s markers of adulthood scale. Analysis showed that the category with the highest frequency was role transition, and almost all the NEETs in this category felt “in-between”. The excerpts portrayed the centrality of work as a crucial factor in self-perception as an adult. The research emphasizes the importance of mixed-methods research to understand where and how people feel about the transition to adulthood, aspects that are difficult to grasp using only quantitative data. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue School-to-Work Transitions: Developmental and Mental Health Outcomes)

15 pages, 731 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Invest in Your Mental Health, Support Your Career. Exploring the Impact of Mental Health Activities on Movement Capital and the Mediating Role of Flourishing and Career Engagement during the Transition to Work

by Marco Giovanni Mariani, Rita Chiesa, Elena Lo Piccolo and Gerardo Petruzziello

Societies 2023, 13(5), 112; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13050112 - 28 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1809

Abstract

The current theorising of career self-management advocates that personal resources that support an adaptive transition to work are bound to individual agency. Yet, research still needs to enrich the empirical exploration of how behaviours in personal life affect careers. For this reason, we explored the impact of mental-health activities—a group of self-help activities that people can perform to increase their mental health—on movement capital among Italian new entrants in the labour market. We also explored a mechanism underlying this relationship by testing the mediating role of flourishing and career engagement. We collected data from 229 Italian university students and recent graduates through an online questionnaire. Contrary to our expectations, we found no significant direct relationship between mental-health activities and movement capital, yet the results supported an indirect relationship. The findings contribute to existing evidence about how personal life behaviours affect career self-management and advance the understanding of the role of mental health activities. This work suggests ways to encourage engagement in self-help behaviours and implement public and higher education interventions to foster these behaviours’ benefits for an adaptive transition to work. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue School-to-Work Transitions: Developmental and Mental Health Outcomes)

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