Professionals' perspectives on loneliness and mental health among adolescents and emerging adults during educational transitions

INTRODUCTION: Educational transitions alter academic demands, social relationships, and access to support. Yet less is known about how professionals interpret the conditions that shape loneliness and mental health across these transitions. PURPOSE: This study explored professionals' accounts of factors that may intensify or mitigate loneliness and mental health challenges among adolescents and emerging adults during transitions to upper-secondary and higher education. METHOD: Four focus groups were conducted with 11 school psychologists, school counsellors, special education teachers, study supervisors, well-being coaches, project workers, and youth workers in Swedish-speaking regions of Finland. The interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Professionals described how individual circumstances and past adversity intersected with disrupted relationships and institutional arrangements. Transitions could offer autonomy and a fresh start, but fragmented peer groups, performance demands, weak continuity of support, and limited communication between institutions could heighten vulnerability. PParticipants emphasised early preparation, supportive teachers and peers, structured opportunities for social connection, and stronger collaboration between sending and receiving institutions. CONCLUSIONS: The findings position transition-related loneliness as arising through interactions between young people and the educational environments through which they move.