This study sought to investigate the risk factors of poor psychosomatic health among students during the quarantine of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was conducted on-line, on a sample of 1978 respondents in Poland. The study was carried out towards the end of the summer 2020 semester. The questionnaire used in the study was designed so that it allows for the observation of the main risk factors which have an impact on the students’ mental health. Variance analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used to determine the predictors of mental health problems. The results indicate that average and high levels of psychosomatic disorders were observed among 61% of respondents. The hierarchical regression analysis showed that an increase in the level of educational burnout, a decreased life satisfaction, and use of negative strategies of coping with stress, were accompanied by a deteriorated mental condition of students. Moreover, it was observed that female respondents scored higher on the scale of disorders in comparison to males.

The article focuses on the introduction and usage of the so-called "NEET" (Neither in Employment nor in Education and Training) concept in the European Union. The term itself comes with several issues connected with its proper definition, or the negative connotations associated with it. Since 2011, the group of young people from the age of 15 to 29 who are in NEET status has been the highest priority in the EU youth employment policy and was referred to in many of the Union's policy documents, despite no research having been done on the NEET phenomena before the introduction of this concept; whether at the EU level, or in any of the Member States except for the United Kingdom (the UK), where it was used in reference to teenagers ranging in age from 16 to 18. The main point of introducing the NEET concept in the Union is supposed to be drawing the attention of policymakers and European society to this particular group of young Europeans. This article presents some negative issues connected with the concept's usage, like: assuming the "normal" way of youth development to only be working, studying, or training, which applies some negative connotations associated with this term in a number of EU countries, oblivious of other groups in difficult positions, or associating NEETs with social exclusion. Moreover, the article analyses the implementation in the Union of a flagship initiative to deal with the so called "NEET crisis"-the Youth Guarantee.

Religiousness has a positive effect on the mental health of an individual and social groups in many difficult situations. In the conducted research, we wanted to check, inter alia, whether religiosity and social support are positively related to the mental health of students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland and Ukraine. The research was conducted at a time (August 2021) when the very contagious Delta variant was spreading over Europe, and numerous pandemic-related personal restrictions and obligations (such as using facemasks in selected places, social distancing, and obligatory self-isolation of the ill or those who had contact with the pathogen) were in force in both countries. For this purpose, a representative survey was carried out using the CAPI technique on a sample of 1000 students in Poland (50% boys and 50% girls in the age range 10–19) and 1022 in Ukraine (51% boys and 49% girls in the age range 10–18). The results of the research shows that depression measured by the PHQ-9 scale was experienced by 20% of students in Poland, and 13% in Ukrainian. Anxiety, measured with the GAD-7 scale, was experienced by 9% of the Polish and 6% of the Ukrainian students. The performed regression analysis showed that religiosity had no effect on the mental health of students. The main risk factor for mental disorders was the lack of social support.