A Rapid Review and Narrative Synthesis of the Consequences of Non-Inclusive Sex Education in UK Schools on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Young People.

It is a rapid review, not a full systematic review: the search was limited to English peer-reviewed articles from 2010 onward, and grey literature and conference papers were excluded. Only 9 studies, with 1,085 young adult participants, were included; most were qualitative and had small samples, so the themes are informative but not generalisable. Most included studies were outside the UK: five in North America, one in Australia, one in Ireland, one in the Netherlands and one in the UK, so UK school nurses must judge transferability. The review does not test an intervention; it reports experiences and associations, so it cannot prove that changing sex education will improve mental or sexual health. Study quality was good to medium, with several included studies unclear about researcher-participant relationships, recruitment, exposure measurement or follow-up. Participants were mainly young adults recalling school, and some surveys did not capture all sexual or gender minority identities.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest and received no financial support.

Do not conclude that inclusive sex education has been shown to prevent poor mental health or unsafe sex. Most included studies only described young people's experiences, and the survey evidence measured perceived inclusivity and symptoms at one time, so it cannot show that the education itself caused the outcomes.