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The Capability Approach in Research about Children and Childhood: a Scoping Review

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Abstract

Although the Capability Approach (CA) has been applied in research about children, the extent of this is unclear. Developing knowledge about the CA applied to childhood is important to facilitate support that may benefit children’s well-being. To identify and synthesise the literature on this topic, we used a scoping review methodology with the guiding questions: How has the CA been used in research with children and their social contexts? Which data generating strategies have been used in this research? Searches conducted in June 2018 yielded 6773 records. Seventy-one studies met our inclusion criteria. While the CA was initially described in 1979, most studies were published from 2011 onwards. The CA was used most often in education research, with few studies in health research. The majority of studies used qualitative and/or participatory approaches. Children’s perspectives were included in the majority of studies, but only a fifth were with young children (<7 years). Researchers used the CA as a theoretical framework, and to generate and interpret data. Two knowledge gaps should be considered in developing future research: applying the CA to the field of children’s health, especially mental health; meaningfully engaging children of all ages in research processes, to promote children’s agency.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Ludwig Boltzmann Society, Austria, for organising the Mental Health Ideas Lab as part of their Open Innovation in Science initiative which brought this international group of researchers together.

We thank Research Librarian Hanne Rennesund Tallaksen, University Library, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway, and Senior Librarian Åse Marit Hammersbøen, Medical Library, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway, for their generous support in locating studies for this review.

Funding

This work was supported by the Ludwig Boltzmann Society, Austria, Research Programme Mental Health.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Silvia Exenberger and Bente Weimand contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, #580, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 3M7, Canada

    Brenda Gladstone

  2. Department of Medical Psychology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Silvia Exenberger

  3. OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo, Norway

    Bente Weimand

  4. Mental Health Services, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway

    Bente Weimand

  5. Gerstein Science Information Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Vincci Lui

  6. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hall Regional Hospital, Hall in Tirol, Austria

    Nina Haid-Stecher

  7. GAMUT – The Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bergen, Norway

    Monika Geretsegger

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  1. Brenda Gladstone
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  2. Silvia Exenberger
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Correspondence to Brenda Gladstone.

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Appendix

Appendix

PsycINFO <1806 to current>

1 (capabilit* approach* or nussbaum* or amartya* or “sen’s”).tw,id.

2 ((capabilit* or functionings) adj5 (approach* or framework* or model* or theor* or set or sets or depriv* or questionnaire* or perspective* or constraint* or input* or central or measur* or indicator*)).tw,id.

3 adaptation/

4 “sense of coherence”/

5 coping behavior/

6 agency/

7 dignity/

8 self-determination/

9 decision making/

10 choice behavior/

11 freedom/

12 autonomy/

13 “independence (personality)”/

14 childhood development/

15 infant development/

16 neonatal development/

17 early childhood development/

18 human development/

19 deprivation/

20 adapt*.tw,id.

21 agency.tw,id.

22 dignit*.tw,id.

23 depriv*.tw,id.

24 autonom*.tw,id.

25 freedom*.tw,id.

26 independ*.tw,id.

27 functioning*.tw,id.

28 achiev*.tw,id.

29 opportunit*.tw,id.

30 resource*.tw,id.

31 conversion.tw,id.

32 liberation.tw,id.

33 (child* adj3 develop*).tw,id.

34 (adolescen* adj3 develop*).tw,id.

35 (human* adj3 develop*).tw,id.

36 (human adj3 flourish*).tw,id.

37 (self determin* or self-determin*).tw,id.

38 (choice* adj3 behav*).tw,id.

39 (decisionmaking or decision-making or decision making).tw,id.

40 (cope* or coping).tw,id.

41 coheren*.tw,id.

42 or/3–41

43 1 and 42

44 2 or 43

45 adopted children/ or daughters/ or foster children/ or illegitimate children/ or sons/ or stepchildren/

46 child welfare/

47 child abuse/

48 child neglect/

49 child self care/

50 schools/ or boarding schools/ or charter schools/ or elementary schools/ or high schools/ or junior high schools/ or kindergartens/ or middle schools/

51 exp STUDENTS/

52 (infan* or newborn* or new-born* or new born* or perinat* or neonat* or baby* or babies or toddler* or minor or minors or minorhood or boy or boys or boyfriend or boyhood or girl* or kid or kids or child* or schoolchild* or school child* or adolescen* or juvenil* or youth* or teen* or under*age* or pubescen* or pediatric* or paediatric* or peadiatric* or school* or prematur* or preterm* or young adult* or young woman or young women or young man or young men or emerging adult* or early adult* or college* or universit* or student* or preschool* or pre-school* or kindergarten* or kindergarden* or elementary school* or nursery school* or pre-pubesc* or prepubesc* or millennial* or Generation Z).mp,ag. or (child* or adolesc* or pediat* or paediat*).jn.

53 or/45–52

54 limit 44 to (100 childhood <birth to age 12 yrs. > or 200 adolescence <age 13 to 17 yrs. > or 320 young adulthood <age 18 to 29 yrs.>)

55 44 and 53

56 54 or 55

57 (Animal not (Animal and human)).po.

58 56 not 57

59 limit 58 to yr = “1979 -Current”

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Gladstone, B., Exenberger, S., Weimand, B. et al. The Capability Approach in Research about Children and Childhood: a Scoping Review. Child Ind Res 14, 453–475 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-020-09766-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-020-09766-0

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