Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 September 2017
Social disability in youth is an important precursor of long-term social and mental health problems. Social inclusion is a key policy driver and fits well within a new paradigm of health and well-being rather than illness-oriented services, yet little is known about social inclusion and its facilitators for “healthy” young people. We present a novel exploratory structural analysis of social inclusion using measures from 387 14- to 36-year-olds. Our model represents social inclusion as comprising social activity and community belonging, with both domains predicted by hopeful and dysfunctional self-beliefs but hopefulness more uniquely predicting social inclusion in adolescence. We conclude that social inclusion can be modeled for meaningful comparison across spectra of development, mental health, and functioning.
This research was supported by a doctoral studentship awarded to the first author from the University of Sussex and Sussex Partnership National Health Services Foundation Trust (G0236). Both authors conceived of the study and participated in its design. The first author coordinated the study, performed the measurement and the statistical analysis, and prepared the manuscript draft; the second author participated in the interpretation of the data and drafting of the manuscript; and both authors read and approved the final manuscript. We are very grateful to everyone who participated in this research.