Young First: Nordic Evidence on the Well-Being–Education Nexus and Inequalities

YouthFirst – uniting the NordForsk-funded ChildrenFirst and YoungEqual projects – addresses a critical gap in Nordic research: how adolescent mental health and education interact over time and across countries. Earlier studies often rely on incomparable indicators, isolated surveys, short follow-ups, and limited causal inference. As a result, policymakers remain unable to determine whether rising mental health diagnoses and symptoms reflect worsening health, improved awareness, better detection, or service bottlenecks – and how each scenario contributes to educational inequality.

We will utilize population registers covering over a million adolescents across multiple Nordic countries to trace how mental well-being is associated to educational outcomes and trajectories. With harmonised longitudinal designs we will analyze, for each country and cohort, how psychiatric diagnosis shape educational transitions and dropout – and whether effects have intensified post-pandemic.

Moreover, we will analyse national and international survey and survey–register-linked datasets to identify modifiable daily-routine markers – such as sleep, meals and screen time – that connect well-being and learning. Drawing on this evidence and a critical review of pandemic-era research, we will co-develop a Nordic-wide, open-access indicator toolkit for effective monitoring of youth well-being and educational equity.

By pooling unique Nordic registers, multidisciplinary expertise, and stakeholder insights, YouthFirst will deliver comparative evidence no single country could produce alone. The results will inform policy and interventions, strengthen crisis preparedness, and support long-term monitoring of youth well-being across the Nordic region.

Contacts

Portræt af Bethina Strandberg-Jensen

Bethina Strandberg-Jensen

Senior Adviser

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