The capability approach in mental health research: A scoping review

Abstract

Abstract The capability approach (CA), which focuses on individual freedom and choices in the conceptualization of well-being, is gaining traction in recent studies of well-being. At the same time, mental health researchers are increasingly adopting a holistic definition of mental health that encompasses both the absence and presence of mental health. Despite the fit between CA and the latest definition of mental health, limited studies examine mental health through the CA lens. To promote CA-based mental health research, this scoping review provides an overview of the mental health studies that utilized CA. Following Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) guidelines, we reviewed 61 studies published between 2007 to 2023 and written in English from Ovid PsycINFO, Ovid Medline, Embase, and Web of Science. Included studies used CA as a theoretical framework underlying the interventions of interest, to guide research processes or to inform the development and validation of well-being measurements. Most studies conceptualized mental health as a continuum while a few studies focused solely on the presence or absence of psychological disorders. The included studies primarily utilized the cross-sectional design and qualitative (48.1 percent) and quantitative (34.4 percent) data collection methods. The results point to the future directions in CA-based mental health research.