Beyond the Individual: A Scoping Review of Group and Community Dimensions of Youth Empowerment.

This scoping review examines how youth empowerment is addressed beyond the psychological level, with a focus on group and community dimensions. Although empowerment theory conceptualises empowerment as a multi-level process, research has predominantly focused on individual outcomes. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a systematic search was conducted in Scopus and Web of Science. This search identified 32 empirical studies involving adolescents aged 10 to 18, focusing on psychosocial interventions and outcomes beyond psychological empowerment. The studies were conducted across diverse contexts and mainly employed qualitative and mixed methods designs. The findings show that, at the group level, empowerment is associated with social support, collective learning and participation in decision-making. At the community level, it is reflected in civic engagement, co-design and shifts in power relations and public recognition. However, most studies continue to prioritise psychological outcomes. Groups and communities are primarily treated as contexts rather than as units of empowerment. These results indicate that group and community dimensions remain underdeveloped and highlight the need for approaches that better capture empowerment as a multi-level and relational process.