The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been widely discussed during the past few months, with scholars expressing concern about its potential debilitating consequences on youth mental health. Hence, this research aimed to provide a systematic review of the evidence on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on youth mental health. We conducted a mixed methods integrated review to identify any empirical study that focused on young people ≤ 18 years old. Eight databases were systematically searched to identify studies of any type of research design. The selection procedure followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The protocol of this systematic review was registered with PROSPERO (protocol ID: CRD4202019375). Twelve studies deemed eligible for data extraction (n = 12,262). The findings show that COVID-19 has an impact on youth mental health and is particularly associated with depression and anxiety in adolescent cohorts. The quality appraisal indicated that all studies were of low or moderate methodological quality. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting young people’s lives, and thus generating robust research evidence to inform policy decisions is essential. Hence, the methodological quality of future research should be drastically improved.

Background: Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) impose burdens on individuals and communities, while their prevalence in young people has risen continually in recent years. Partner notification is an effective public health strategy which can limit STI transmission.Aims: This study aimed to explore young adults’ sexual health behaviours, attitudes toward STI testing, and feelings toward visiting a sexual health clinic. It also aimed to investigate preferences for partner notification, and the role of self-efficacy in peoples’ intentions to notify a partner for STIs including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional design was applied. Participants were 400 adults aged 18-34 years (M = 26.1; SD = 4.27), recruited from the Republic of Ireland. Results: Over half of participants reported never being tested for STIs. These young people placed less importance on undergoing regular STI testing and testing after unprotected sex than their counterparts who had been tested for STIs. Self-efficacy was significantly associated with intentions to notify partner(s) for STIs including HIV.Conclusions: As STIs are becoming increasingly prevalent in young adults, it is important to gain a deeper understanding of the interventions used to break the transmission train and how different beliefs and attitudes may affect them. Self-efficacy was a key component in PN intentions, suggesting that the belief in someone’s ability or skillset to perform a sexual health behaviour is positively related to their intention to perform the behaviour.

Objective: To systematically review and synthesise evidence on the effectiveness of school-based sex education interventions on sexual health behaviour outcomes and to identify Behaviour Change Techniques (BCT) associated with school-based sex education interventions on sexual health behaviours.Methods: Electronic searches were conducted to systematically identify literature for school-based sex education interventions targeting sexual health behaviours. Results were presented as a narrative synthesis. Results: Twenty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies examined sexual health behaviours such as condom usage, frequency of sexual activity, initiation of sexual activity and number of sexual partners. Nine (out of 93) Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs) were identified with the most used BCTs being information about health consequences and social and emotional consequences, demonstration of behaviour, behavioural practice/rehearsal and instructions on how to perform the behaviour.Conclusion: This review has systematically identified and synthesised all available evidence for school-based sex education interventions and sexual health behaviours. School-based sex education interventions can be effective in promoting positive sexual health behaviours. This review provides a conceptual foundation of school-based sex education interventions for shaping sexual health behaviours and offers evidence-based knowledge for researchers, educators and policy makers in understanding what is known across the diverse sexual health literature.

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