Andrew Gardner1,2, Sue Cotton1,3, Kate Filia1,3, Eoin Killackey1,3; 1Orygen, the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Australia, 2School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Australia, 3Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Australia
Background: Social inclusion involves objective participatory (e.g., education/employment) and subjective (e.g., belonging/acceptance) elements. It has been associated with enhanced wellbeing yet is a novel construct in the empirical literature (i.e., measures have not been sufficiently developed). Aims: Young people with serious mental illness (SMI) are reported to be socially excluded. It is unclear whether this is reflected in the social inclusion/exclusion literature. The aim of this narrative review is to determine whether such literature informs a comprehensive (i.e., multi-dimensional, objective and subjective) understanding of social inclusion for young people with SMI. Results: There is a paucity of research in the social inclusion literature involving young people with SMI as participants. Literatures exist in related independent areas (e.g., employment, social networks), but such studies employ heterogeneous methodologies. Conclusions: Multidimensional measures of social inclusion incorporating objective and subjective indicators must be developed for young people with and without SMI. This will enable the generation of normative and clinical data. Existing evidence for the social exclusion of young people with SMI comes from objective indicators in isolated domains (e.g., unemployment). The above-described measures must be employed to further understanding of these apparent discrepancies. This will elucidate the relationships between objective and subjective elements of social inclusion, and the relationships between these elements and the psychological distress that young people with SMI often experience. This has implications for intervention. A comprehensive range of candidate interventions to improve the social inclusion of this population has not been identified: scoping reviews of such interventions are indicated.
