Understanding the conceptualization and measurement of social participation among adults living with psychosocial disability: a scoping review and heuristic framework

Abstract

Social participation is an important outcome in mental health, recovery, and disability research, but studies use overlapping concepts and different approaches to its assessment. This scoping review aimed to map how social participation is conceptualized, operationalized, and assessed among adults living with psychosocial disability and to synthesize the factors reported as influencing participation. The review followed Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews. PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, and ProQuest were searched from inception to June 2025 and updated in February 2026. Forty-one studies were included. Data were synthesized descriptively and through inductive thematic analysis and analytic comparisons. Recurring participation components were further synthesized into a heuristic framework. Studies used several related participation concepts, including work or vocational participation, functioning or role functioning, social inclusion, community participation, social participation, and community integration. Participation was defined mainly in terms of involvement in life situations, inclusion and belonging, or functioning and role limitation. Operationalization focused predominantly on activities and roles, while subjective participation experiences were less consistently represented. Assessment ranged from broad disability or functioning measures to participation-focused and in-context approaches. Conceptualization and assessment were not always well aligned. Five recurring participation elements were identified: enacted activities and life situations, socially valued roles and statuses, subjective participation experience, capacities and autonomy treated as part of participation, and resources or opportunities positioned as participation-related. Reported influences on participation spanned service-related, individual, interpersonal, and structural levels. The main challenge is not terminology alone, but variation in what studies treat as participation and how they measure it. The proposed heuristic framework provides a structured way to clarify construct content, support more transparent outcome selection, and guide future measurement research. Open Science Framework, fksmx.