Psychosis among the disconnected youth: a systematic review

Disconnection from education and employment in youth termed Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) has global attention. Major societal economic consequences and detrimental individual consequences follow disconnection. On the one hand, mental health problems are recognized as essential factors in disconnection, and on the other hand, youth clients within social welfare services face re-integrative initiatives with a vocational perspective. Psychosis and NEET are strongly associated with young help seekers inside mental healthcare services. In this systematic review, we investigate the occurrence of symptoms of psychosis among NEET status youth outside mental healthcare services to clarify if occurrence corresponds to the findings of NEET among help seekers with psychosis inside mental healthcare services. Based on literature search in the six databases MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Web of Science, SocIndex and Cochrane Library for NEETs measured for psychosis, we present findings from a narrative synthesis of two included studies and a total of 179 included participants. Our findings demonstrate sparse literature describing psychosis among NEETs, contrasting findings within mental healthcare settings. The results point to a research gap. Further research exploring unrecognized mental health needs with the focus of severe mental disorders as psychosis among the NEET population is needed. Joint interventions of welfare benefit system and mental health service are recommended to evolve initiatives for prevention and integration of the NEETs.