title: Not in Education, Employment, or Training status among young Swiss men. Longitudinal associations with mental health and substance use.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET) youth are youth disengaged from major social institutions and constitute a worrying concern. However, little is known about this subgroup of vulnerable youth. This study aimed to examine if NEET youth differ from other contemporaries in terms of personality, mental health, and substance use and to provide longitudinal examination of NEET status, testing its stability and prospective pathways with mental health and substance use.
  
  
  METHODS
  As part of the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors, 4,758 young Swiss men in their early 20s answered questions concerning their current professional and educational status, personality, substance use, and symptomatology related to mental health. Descriptive statistics, generalized linear models for cross-sectional comparisons, and cross-lagged panel models for longitudinal associations were computed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  NEET youth were 6.1% at baseline and 7.4% at follow-up with 1.4% being NEET at both time points. Comparisons between NEET and non-NEET youth showed significant differences in substance use and depressive symptoms only. Longitudinal associations showed that previous mental health, cannabis use, and daily smoking increased the likelihood of being NEET. Reverse causal paths were nonsignificant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NEET status seemed to be unlikely and transient among young Swiss men, associated with differences in mental health and substance use but not in personality. Causal paths presented NEET status as a consequence of mental health and substance use rather than a cause. Additionally, this study confirmed that cannabis use and daily smoking are public health problems. Prevention programs need to focus on these vulnerable youth to avoid them being disengaged.
authors.affiliation: Life course and social inequality research Centre, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Alcohol Treatment Centre, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: Stephanie.baggio@unil.ch.
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baggio
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Understanding of Social Processes, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iglesias
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Treatment Centre, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deline
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Treatment Centre, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Studer
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Treatment Centre, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Henchoz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Meichun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohler-Kuo
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Treatment Centre, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland; Addiction Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Bristol, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gmel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004493:Education; D004651:Employment; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D008603:Mental Health; D012307:Risk Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cannabis use; Cigarette smoking; Disengagement; Education; Unemployment