American Journal of Community Psychology (AM J COMMUN PSYCHOL)

Publications in this journal

• Article: Accomplishing structural change: Identifying intermediate indicators of success

  Robin Lin Miller, Sarah J. Reed, Vincent Francisco, Jon Ellen, the Adolescent Medicine Trials Unit for HIV/AIDS Interventions
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  ABSTRACT: Coalitions are routinely employed across the United States as a method of mobilizing communities to improve local conditions that impact on citizens’ well-being. Success in achieving specific objectives for environmental or structural community change may not quickly translate into improved population outcomes in the community, posing a dilemma for coalitions that pursue changes that focus on altering community conditions. Considerable effort by communities to plan for and pursue structural change objectives, without evidence of logical and appropriate intermediate markers of success could lead to wasted effort. Yet, the current literature provides little guidance on how coalitions might select intermediate indicators of achievement to judge their progress and the utility of their effort. The current paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of various indicators of intermediate success in creating structural changes among a sample of 13 coalitions organized to prevent exposure to HIV among high-risk adolescents in their local communities.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 12/2012;
• Article: Economic Hardship, Neighborhood Context, and Parenting: Prospective Effects on Mexican–American Adolescent’s Mental Health

  Nancy A. Gonzales, Stefany Coxe, Mark W. Roosa, Rebecca M. B. White, George P. Knight, Katharine H. Zeiders, Delia Saenz
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  ABSTRACT: This study examined family and neighborhood influences relevant to low-income status to determine how they combine to predict the parenting behaviors of Mexican–American mothers and fathers. The study also examined the role of parenting as a mediator of these contextual influences on adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Study hypotheses were examined in a diverse sample of Mexican–American families in which 750 mothers and 467 fathers reported on their own levels of parental warmth and harsh parenting. Family economic hardship, neighborhood familism values, and neighborhood risk indicators were all uniquely associated with maternal and paternal warmth, and maternal warmth mediated the effects of these contextual influences on adolescent externalizing symptoms in prospective analyses. Parents’ subjective perceptions of neighborhood danger interacted with objective indicators of neighborhood disadvantage to influence maternal and paternal warmth. Neighborhood familism values had unique direct effects on adolescent externalizing symptoms in prospective analyses, after accounting for all other context and parenting effects. KeywordsEconomic hardship–Neighborhood–Parenting–Culture–Adolescence–Mental health
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 47(1):98-113.
• Article: Diverse Perceptions of the Informed Consent Process: Implications for the Recruitment and Participation of Diverse Communities in the National Children’s Study

  Kimberley D. Lakes, Elaine Vaughan, Marissa Jones, Wylie Burke, Dean Baker, James M. Swanson
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  ABSTRACT: We examined the experiences, perceptions, and values that are brought to bear when individuals from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds consider participating in health research. Fifty-three women from Latino, Asian American, Middle Eastern, or Non-Latino, White backgrounds participated in seven English or Spanish focus groups facilitated by trained investigators using a standard protocol. Investigators described the National Children’s Study (NCS) and then asked questions to elicit potential concerns, expectations, and informational needs. Group sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using qualitative thematic methods. A major theme that emerged during focus groups was participant self-identification as a member of a cultural group or community when raising issues that would influence their decision to participate in research. A related theme was the belief by some that communities may differ in the ease of participation in the NCS. Identified themes related to the informed consent process included perceived risks, anticipated burden, perceived benefits, informational needs, and decision-making strategies. Although themes were shared across groups, there were cultural differences within themes. Findings indicated that individuals from diverse backgrounds may have different perspectives on and expectations for the research process. To effectively recruit representative samples, it will be important to address a range of issues relevant for informed consent and to consider the impact of participation on both individuals and communities. KeywordsInformed consent–Research participation–Diversity–Culture–Recruitment–National Children's Study
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 49(1):215-232.
• Article: An Empirical Examination of Women’s Empowerment and Transformative Change in the Context of International Development

  Shelly Grabe
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  ABSTRACT: This paper responds to calls from social scientists in the area of globalization and women’s empowerment to test a model that investigates both structural and individual components of women’s empowerment in the context of globalization. The investigation uses a liberation psychology framework by taking into account the effects of globalization, human rights discourse, and women’s activism within social movements to identify how structural inequities may be related to empowerment. Surveys conducted in rural Nicaragua revealed that land ownership and organizational participation among women were related to more progressive gender ideology, and in turn, women’s power and control within the marital relationship, individual levels of agency, and subjective well-being. The study demonstrates that psychology can bridge the theoretical arguments surrounding human rights with the practical implementation of development interventions, and provide empirical support that has yet to be demonstrated elsewhere. The findings have important implications for strategies and interventions that can improve conditions for women and contribute to the aims of social justice articulated in the Beijing Platform for Action. KeywordsStructural inequities–Development–Gender–Empowerment–Well-being–Social justice
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 49(1):233-245.
• Article: Crime, Social Capital, and Community Participation

  Susan Saegert, Gary Winkel
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  ABSTRACT: Social disorganization at the neighborhood and community levels has been consistently linked to various forms of criminal activity. However, a very much smaller body of literature addresses the effects of crime on community organizations. In some studies, crime appears to energize communities while in others, crime leads to withdrawal from community life. Using department of health crime victimization data and interviews with 2,985 low-income inner city residents living in 487 multi-family dwellings, a multi-level model examined the relationships among crime victimization, social organization, and participation in neighborhood organizations. Social organization at the individual and building levels was measured using recent formulations of social capital theory. Findings regarding crime suggested more signs of a chilling effect on participation than of an energizing effect, especially at the building level. Social capital at the building level was more strongly and consistently related to participation in community organizations than was crime.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 34(3):219-233.
• Article: Local Food Environments: They’re All Stocked Differently

  Darcy A. Freedman
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  ABSTRACT: The obesity epidemic has widened the aims of prevention research to include the influence of local food environments on health outcomes. This mixed methods study extends existing research focused on local food environments by examining whether community members’ find food accessible. Data from food store audits and one-on-one interviews were analyzed. Results reveal that most of the food stores surrounding the three research sites were convenience stores and non-chain grocery stores; interviewees did not perceive these stores to be “real” food stores. Tobacco and alcohol products were more prevalent in the food stores than all varieties of milk, fresh fruits, or fresh vegetables. Food access varied by site in a manner that was designed to appeal to customers’ race, class, gender, or environment. Findings reveal that local food environments are reflections of social hierarchies. Unraveling the politics of space ought to be a part of broader efforts to promote the public’s health.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 44(3):382-393.
• Article: Gentrification and Urban Children’s Well-Being: Tipping the Scales from Problems to Promise

  Diana Formoso, Rachel N. Weber, Marc S. Atkins
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  ABSTRACT: Gentrification changes the neighborhood and family contexts in which children are socialized—for better and worse—yet little is known about its consequences for youth. This review, drawn from research in urban planning, sociology, and psychology, maps out mechanisms by which gentrification may impact children. We discuss indicators of gentrification and link neighborhood factors, including institutional resources and collective socialization, to family processes more proximally related to child development. Finally, we discuss implications for intervention and public policy recommendations that are intended to tip the scales toward better outcomes for low-income youth in gentrifying areas. KeywordsUrban renewal-Neighborhoods-Institutional resources-Collective socialization-Children and families-Public policy
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 46(3):395-412.
• Article: Coming Out, Visibility, and Creating Change: Empowering Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual People in a Rural University Community

  Anthony R. D’Augelli
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  ABSTRACT: Personal and professional challenges faced in encouraging the development of a gay community in a rural university setting are described. Community psychologists who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) must assess their willingness to be open and the roles they can play in developing helping resources. These issues concern how to encourage the empowerment of others while maintaining a collaborative role in a situation of major personal investment. Two specific challenges–developing informal helping resources for local LGB people and fostering institutional and policy changes to make the university a safer place for LGB faculty, staff, and students–are described. Community psychologists must consider personal risk when they become involved in empowerment efforts with this population.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 37(3):203-210.
• Article: Integrating Cultural Community Psychology: Activity Settings and the Shared Meanings of Intersubjectivity

  Clifford R. O’Donnell, Roland G. Tharp
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  ABSTRACT: Cultural and community psychology share a common emphasis on context, yet their leading journals rarely cite each other’s articles. Greater integration of the concepts of culture and community within and across their disciplines would enrich and facilitate the viability of cultural community psychology. The contextual theory of activity settings is proposed as one means to integrate the concepts of culture and community in cultural community psychology. Through shared activities, participants develop common experiences that affect their psychological being, including their cognitions, emotions, and behavioral development. The psychological result of these experiences is intersubjectivity. Culture is defined as the shared meanings that people develop through their common historic, linguistic, social, economic, and political experiences. The shared meanings of culture arise through the intersubjectivity developed in activity settings. Cultural community psychology presents formidable epistemological challenges, but overcoming these challenges could contribute to the transformation and advancement of community psychology. KeywordsCulture–Community–Activity setting–Intersubjectivity–Shared meaning
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 49(1):22-30.
• Article: Preventing Children’s Aggression in Immigrant Latino Families: A Mixed Methods Evaluation of the Families and Schools Together Program

  Lyndee Knox, Nancy G. Guerra, Kirk R. Williams, Rosa Toro
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  ABSTRACT: The effectiveness of the evidence based program, Families and Schools Together (FAST), was examined in two inter-related studies with immigrant Latino (Mexican) families in the U.S. In Study 1, we reported findings from pre-test, 3-month post-test, and 12-month follow-up surveys of parents and children participating in the FAST program. Families were selected from communities that were randomly assigned to either intervention or control groups. A total of 282 parents (263 mothers and 19 fathers) participated in either the intervention (140 parents) or control (142 parents) condition over the course of 3years. Each of the parents had a participating focal child; thus, 282 children (144 females and 138 males; average age=9.5years) participated in the study. A primary focus of the research was to determine whether participation in FAST led to reductions in children’s aggression. Using linear growth models, no differences were noted on aggression between intervention and control groups, although intervention children did show significant improvements in social problem-solving skills and perceptions of collective efficacy. In Study 2, we conducted two focus groups with ten FAST participants to explore whether other unmeasured outcomes were noted and to understand better the mechanisms and impact of FAST. All of the parents in the focus groups reported that FAST had helped them better relate to and communicate with their children, and that the greatest effect was on the behavior of their older children. Results are discussed in terms of cultural fit of the FAST program for immigrant Latino families and future directions. KeywordsChildhood aggression–Prevention–Families–Immigrant Latino
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 48(1):65-76.
• Article: School Climate and Implementation of a Preventive Intervention

  Anne Gregory, David B. Henry, Michael E. Schoeny, The Metropolitan Area Child Study Research Group
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  ABSTRACT: Although there has been wide dissemination of research-based psychosocial prevention programs, a similarly strong research base to guide program implementation has been lacking. Program implementation has been particularly difficult for schools, due partly to insufficient understanding of how school ecologies interact with these programs. This study examined the effects of multiple dimensions of school climate on level and rate of change in implementation of a violence prevention intervention across three school years. Using multi-level modeling, the study found that teacher-reported support between staff and among teachers and students predicted higher average levels of implementation. Teacher-reported administrative leadership predicted greater growth in implementation across 3years. Findings offer implications for an ecological model of program implementation that considers school-level contextual effects on adoption and sustainability of new programs in schools.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 40(3):250-260.
• Article: The Effect of Residential Neighborhood on Child Behavior Problems in First Grade

  Margaret O’Brien Caughy, Saundra Murray Nettles, Patricia J. O’Campo
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  ABSTRACT: Child behavior problems have been identified as being responsible for the greatest reduction in quality of life for children between ages 1 and 19. In this study, we examine whether neighborhood social processes are associated with differences in child behavior problems in an economically and racially diverse sample of 405 urban-dwelling first grade children and whether parenting behavior mediates and/or moderates the effects of neighborhoods. Furthermore, we examine whether neighborhood social processes play the same role with regards to child behavior problems at differing levels of neighborhood economic impoverishment. Results of multivariate multilevel regression analyses indicate that a high negative social climate is associated with greater internalizing problems. High potential for community involvement for children in the neighborhood was associated with fewer behavior problems, but only in economically impoverished neighborhoods. Differences in parenting behavior did not appear to mediate neighborhood effects on behavior problems, and parenting characterized by a high degree of positive involvement was associated with fewer behavior problems in all types of neighborhoods.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 42(1):39-50.
• Article: Utilizing Program Evaluation as a Strategy to Promote Community Change: Evaluation of a Comprehensive, Community-Based, Family Violence Initiative

  Joy S. Kaufman, Cindy A. Crusto, Michael Quan, Ellen Ross, Stacey R. Friedman, Kim O’Rielly, Stephanie Call
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  ABSTRACT: This paper describes the authors’ work in a community that received Federal funding for an integrated system of care to reduce the impact and incidence of exposure to violence for children less than six years of age. The paper includes a review of the conceptual framework that guided the work of the authors and provides a brief overview of the issue of family violence, the impact of this violence on young children, and the Federal response to this issue. In addition, a description of the Initiative and the community in which it was based is provided along with some aspects of the evaluation plan. Finally, the authors discuss how their work with this Initiative depicts an approach to facilitating change within communities.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 38(3):191-200.
• Article: Depressive Symptomatology among HIV-Positive Women in the Era of HAART: A Stress and Coping Model

  Robert H. Remien, Theresa Exner, Robert M. Kertzner, Anke A. Ehrhardt, Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, Mallory O. Johnson, Lance S. Weinhardt, Lauren E. Kittel, Rise B. Goldstein, Rogério M. Pinto, Stephen F. Morin, Margaret A. Chesney, Marguerita Lightfoot, Cheryl Gore-Felton, Brian Dodge, Jeffrey A. Kelly, NIMH Healthy Living Project Trial Group
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  ABSTRACT: Objective: An enhanced stress and coping model was used to explain depression among HIV-positive women in healthcare and community settings where highly active anti-retroviral treatment (HAART) was commonplace. Method: HIV-infected women in four cities (N=978) were assessed, cross-sectionally, for mental and physical health, stress, social support, and other background factors. Results: Self-reported level of depressive symptomatology was high. Number of physical symptoms, illness intrusiveness, and perceived stress were positively associated with depressed mood, while coping self-efficacy and social support were negatively associated. Stress mediated the effect of health status on depression and coping self-efficacy mediated the effect of psychosocial resources on depression. Our enhanced stress and coping model accounted for 52% of variance in depressive symtpomatology. Conclusions: Interventions focused on improving coping self-efficacy, bolstering social supports, and decreasing stress in the lives of HIV-positive women may help to reduce the negative effects of HIV disease on mood.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 38(3):275-285.
• Article: New York City young adults’ psychological reactions to 9/11: findings from the Reach for Health longitudinal study

  Gail Agronick, Ann Stueve, Sue Vargo, Lydia O’Donnell
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  ABSTRACT: This research examines psychological distress among 955 economically disadvantaged New York City residents surveyed during high school and again after the September 11th terrorist attacks (9/11), when they were young adults. As part of the longitudinal Reach for Health study, young adult surveys were conducted from 6–19months post-9/11 (average 8months), providing opportunity to assess types of exposures and psychological distress, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, hopelessness, and anger. Regressions of psychological distress on 9/11 exposure were performed, controlling for high school distress, prior exposure to violence victimization, and socio-demographic characteristics. Exposure to 9/11 was positively associated with anger, hopelessness, and PTSD symptoms and a measure of global distress. The relationship was greater among women for PTSD symptoms. Although those who reported high school distress also reported more distress in young adulthood, prior psychological distress did not moderate the relationship between exposure and psychological outcomes. Greater exposure is related to distress among those who, during high school, reported lower distress, as well as among those who reported prior greater distress.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 39(1):79-90.
• Article: A Social Disorganization Perspective on Bullying-Related Attitudes and Behaviors: The Influence of School Context

  Catherine P. Bradshaw, Anne L. Sawyer, Lindsey M. O’Brennan
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  ABSTRACT: Social disorganization theory suggests that certain school-level indictors of disorder may be important predictors of bullying-related attitudes and behaviors. Multilevel analyses were conducted on bullying-related attitudes and experiences among 22,178 students in 95 elementary and middle schools. The intraclass correlation coefficients indicated that 0.6–2% of the variance in victimization, 5–10% of the variance in retaliatory attitudes, 5–6% of the variance in perceptions of safety, and 0.9% of the variance in perpetration of bullying was associated with the clustering of students within schools. Although the specific associations varied somewhat for elementary schools as compared to middle schools, the hierarchical linear modeling analyses generally suggested that school-level indicators of disorder (e.g., student–teacher ratio, concentration of student poverty, suspension rate, and student mobility) were significant predictors of bullying-related attitudes and experiences. Student-level characteristics (i.e., sex, ethnicity, status in school) were also relevant to students’ retaliatory attitudes, perceptions of safety, and involvement in bullying. Implications for school-based research and violence prevention are provided.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 43(3):204-220.
• Article: The Social Production of Altruism: Motivations for Caring Action in a Low-Income Urban Community

  Jacqueline S. Mattis, Wizdom Powell Hammond, Nyasha Grayman, Meredith Bonacci, William Brennan, Sheri-Ann Cowie, Lina Ladyzhenskaya, Sara So
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  ABSTRACT: Contemporary social science paints a bleak picture of inner-city relational life. Indeed, the relationships of low-income, urban-residing Americans are represented as rife with distress, violence and family disruption. At present, no body of social scientific work systematically examines the factors that promote loving or selfless interactions among low-income, inner-city American individuals, families and communities. In an effort to fill that gap, this ethnographic study examined the motivations for altruism among a sample of adults (n=40) who reside in an economically distressed housing community (i.e., housing project) in New York City. Content analyses of interviews indicated that participants attributed altruism to an interplay between 14 motives that were then ordered into four overarching categories of motives: (1) needs-centered motives, (2) norm-based motives deriving from religious/spiritual ideology, relationships and personal factors, (3) abstract motives (e.g., humanism), and (4) sociopolitical factors. The implications of these findings are discussed.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 43(1):71-84.
• Article: A Longitudinal Analysis of Psychiatric Severity upon Outcomes Among Substance Abusers Residing in Self-Help Settings

  John M. Majer, Leonard A. Jason, Carol S. North, Joseph R. Ferrari, Nicole S. Porter, Bradley Olson, Margaret Davis, Darrin Aase, J. Paul Molloy
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  ABSTRACT: A longitudinal analysis of psychiatric severity was conducted with a national sample of recovering substance abusers living in Oxford Houses, which are self-run, self-help settings. Outcomes related to residents’ psychiatric severity were examined at three follow-up intervals over one year. Over time, Oxford House residents with high versus low baseline psychiatric severity reported significantly more days using psychiatric medication, decreased outpatient psychiatric treatment, yet no significant differences for number of days abstinent and time living in an Oxford House. These findings suggest that a high level of psychiatric severity is not an impediment to residing in self-run, self-help settings such as Oxford House among persons with psychiatric comorbid substance use disorders.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 42(1):145-153.
• Article: Decoupling the Relation Between Risk Factors for Conduct Problems and the Receipt of Intervention Services: Participation Across Multiple Components of a Prevention Program

  Robert L. Nix, Ellen E. Pinderhughes, Karen L. Bierman, Jerry J. Maples, The Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group
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  ABSTRACT: This study examined whether the link between risk factors for conduct problems and low rates of participation in mental health treatment could be decoupled through the provision of integrated prevention services in multiple easily-accessible contexts. It included 445 families of first-grade children (55% minority), living in four diverse communities, and selected for early signs of conduct problems. Results indicated that, under the right circumstances, these children and families could be enticed to participate at high rates in school-based services, therapeutic groups, and home visits. Because different sets of risk factors were related to different profiles of participation across the components of the prevention program, findings highlight the need to offer services in multiple contexts to reach all children and families who might benefit from them.
  American Journal of Community Psychology 04/2012; 36(3):307-325.