American journal of community psychology最新文献

Although peer support is central to the social model approach emphasized in sober living houses (SLHs), no longitudinal studies have examined helping among SLH residents. This longitudinal study examined benefits of helping in three contexts among SLH residents. Data were from 205 participants entering 28 SLHs across 2021-2023. Interviews were at baseline and 1, 2, 3, and 6 months; focal variables were assessed at all interviews using a past-30-day timeframe. Predictors were help given to and received from SLH residents, 12-step attendees, and family/friends; outcomes included drinking days and alcohol problems. Analyses included hurdle and GEE models (both accounting for repeated measures) predicting outcomes from time-lagged helping measures and covariates. In controlled models, more help given in all three contexts and help received in 12-step and family/friends contexts predicted lower odds of alcohol use, while greater family/friends help given predicted fewer drinking days among drinkers. Greater help received in both SLH and 12-step contexts predicted lower odds of alcohol problems. In sum, help both given and received predicted better alcohol outcomes, and helping in all three contexts appeared to be beneficial. Implications are that SLH operators and other service providers might foster helping in recovery-related and other contexts to improve outcomes.

Federal funding pauses, once considered rare, are increasingly disrupting the stability and continuity of community-engaged research. Even projects with active, awarded grants are experiencing the strain of funding uncertainty, raising substantive concerns among research teams and community partners. These disruptions extend beyond operational delays; they jeopardize the continuity of relationships developed through sustained, collaborative engagement. In the absence of clear information about a project's future, uncertainty undermines trust and challenges the ethical principles that guide human subjects research, particularly beneficence and justice. This paper draws on direct experience and insights from the broader field to examine the practical and ethical implications of funding instability in community-engaged research contexts. It further outlines structural recommendations to mitigate harm, including the establishment of bridge funding mechanisms, the integration of pause-contingency planning into grant proposals, and enhanced transparency from funding agencies. Institutional review boards and oversight entities may consider developing clear guidance for maintaining ethical obligations during funding disruptions. Research continuity must be recognized not as a procedural convenience, but as a foundational element of ethical research practice. Upholding the core values of community-engaged research necessitates systems explicitly designed to promote stability, accountability, and sustained partnership, even amid an increasingly unpredictable funding environment.

This study analyzes a participatory project to develop peer support services for people with serious mental illnesses (SMIs) in China. Drawing on interviews with psychiatrists, social workers, service users, and a family caregiver, it examines the conditions, challenges, facilitators, and outcomes of participation in a paternalistic context unfamiliar with such approaches. Participation was made possible by local calls for change, personal trust, and institutional endorsements. Challenges included service users' difficulties understanding technical materials, reticence in group settings, technology barriers, and limited institutional support. To address these, professionals adjusted meeting formats and communication styles, offered emotional and material support, and helped service users engage with project content. Participants recommended including government officials and expanding the team's diversity in future efforts. The process produced a culturally responsive manual integrating diverse stakeholder perspectives, particularly those of service users. It also fostered emerging shifts in professional reflexivity, service user empowerment, and mutual relationships, setting the stage for second-order change. However, participation remained shaped by structural inequalities and lacked sufficient institutional backing for long-term transformation. This case highlights the potential and limits of participatory processes in hierarchical systems and offers strategies to make them more inclusive and transformative for disabled populations in China and beyond.

Social capital, particularly in the form of supportive relationships and mentorship, plays a crucial role in enhancing college students' academic success and retention. However, disparities in access to these resources contribute to inequities in educational and career outcomes. This study examined the long-term effects of a one-credit course, Connected Scholars, which was designed to teach college students a variety of evidence-based skills for building social capital and recruiting mentors. Drawing on longitudinal administrative data from a large, diverse public university, results demonstrated that passing Connected Scholars was associated with improved retention and an increased likelihood of graduating within 4 or 6 years. Connected Scholars was not associated with significant differences in cumulative GPA at graduation. Results highlight the potential long-term impacts of this semester-long social capital intervention. By increasing college retention and timely degree completion, Connected Scholars may help mitigate economic disparities often experienced by students from marginalized backgrounds.

Background: Resettled refugee families face elevated mental health risks, compounded by structural and cultural barriers. The Family Strengthening Intervention for Resettlement (FSIR), co-developed with resettled refugee communities, aims to improve family functioning and child mental health. This study evaluated FSI-R in Somali Bantu and Bhutanese communities in New England during COVID-19 using a Hybrid Type II Implementation-Effectiveness Trial guided by the EPIS framework.

Methods: Linear mixed modeling assessed changes in family functioning and child mental health. A process evaluation identified implementation barriers and informed adaptations. Activities were registered under Clinical Registry #NCT03796065.

Results: Bhutanese families receiving FSI-R showed greater improvements in parental supervision compared to usual care. Process evaluation highlighted that responsiveness to community needs supported successful implementation despite pandemic stressors. Somali Bantu interventionists reported stronger emotional connection with families during in-person delivery.

Conclusions: Findings support the utility of hybrid trials in assessing both effectiveness and implementation of preventive interventions with resettling families. Despite contextual disruptions, attention to community needs and delivery flexibility enabled successful implementation. This study underscores the importance of context-informed strategies to sustain core elements of evidence-based interventions in dynamic settings.

The provision of residential and community-based services for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) has become increasingly important following the deinstitutionalization movement. Much of the existing research on supportive housing focuses on housing outcomes rather than exploring how the program helps its residents thrive in the broader community. This study draws upon data collected from 176 people with SMI residing in 16 supportive housing locations in Portland, Oregon. Analyses explore how housing staff support relates to residents' loneliness (interpersonal level), residential satisfaction (housing and neighborhood level), and sense of community (community level). Staff support was found to be related to lower levels of loneliness, higher residential satisfaction, and a higher sense of community. Self-determination was considered as a moderator to understand the role of residents' agency in the relationships between staff support and resident experiences. Self-determination moderated the relationship between staff support and residential satisfaction for those with moderate to low self-determination, but not for individuals with high self-determination. In contrast, staff support was associated with decreased loneliness and increased sense of community regardless of self-determination. This study has implications for policymakers, researchers, and interventionists, expanding upon the limited body of research on staff support and the experiences of residents in a supportive housing environment.

We explored community-based doulas' perspectives on the acceptability of using formal screening tools to address low rates of mental health screening, diagnosis, and treatment for perinatal anxiety and depression among Black women. Using thematic analysis, we analyzed interview data from 30 community-based doulas who support Black families during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Approximately 57% of community-based doulas supported mental health screening; 23% opposed, and 20% were unsure of whether or not to screen. Four themes emerged from participants' responses, including (1) rethinking screening approaches and procedures; (2) cultural and contextual screening; (3) community-based doula roles; and (4) client mistrust of mental health questionnaires. Additionally, there were four themes that highlighted community-based doulas' perspectives of how they might advocate for this population, including (1) bridge to mental health; (2) identification and normalization of symptoms; (3) systemic issues; and (4) mental health specialization. Partnering with trusted community-based doulas might improve perinatal mental health screening and prevention efforts for Black women experiencing perinatal anxiety and depression.

Sociopolitical development (SPD)-that is, "the process by which individuals acquire the knowledge, analytical skills, emotional faculties, and the capacity for action in political and social systems necessary to interpret and resist oppression" (Watts et al., 2003, p. 185)-allows young people to engage in their communities in ways that promote justice and collective wellbeing. Participation in supportive adult-child relationships is theoretically and empirically linked to SPD. However, additional research is needed to investigate the mechanisms through which these relationships support SPD, especially during the understudied developmental period of middle childhood (ages 7-11). This paper presents a theoretical literature review with the goal of consolidating existing evidence about SPD and the social and relational forces that shape it during middle childhood. It also expands on the theory of SPD by proposing the related concept of sociopolitical socialization (SPS), which describes the kinds of socialization between young people and their relational partners that promote SPD, and by highlighting imagination as a previously implicit component of SPD with particular significance for middle childhood.

Aim: We explored the perceived barriers and facilitators faced by leaders when initiating self-help groups (SHGs) for emotional well-being using an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design that combined focus groups and an online survey. Leaders, educators, and technicians from supportive organizations participated in four focus groups (n = 22), and 46% (n = 30) of trainees from SHGs leadership training courses completed the survey. Thematic analysis of qualitative data, combined with descriptive and textual analyses of survey responses, revealed two overarching themes: learning to lead and leading in practice. Early success of SHGs was linked to leaders' self-motivation and targeted leadership training. Facilitators included shared task distribution, horizontal relationships, and active dialogue facilitated leadership, while barriers comprised perceived role overload and logistical burdens. Survey findings reinforced the importance of co-responsibility, key training elements, and external support, including meeting spaces, integration, and publicity. These results suggest that initiating and maintaining mutual SHGs for emotional well-being may require recognizing the central role of leaders. Targeted training, professional accompaniment, and a stable community network are essential supports.

Social support has long been recognized as an individual and community resource that can reduce stress and promote well-being, both in everyday life and after traumatic events. This study sought to explore the impact of two types of social support-social integration and perceived emotional support-on sexual assault survivors' longitudinal experiences of posttraumatic stress. We built on a previously conducted latent transition analysis to identify whether social integration and perceived emotional support predicted membership in each latent class, in addition to whether varied levels of support predicted transitions between latent classes over 1 year. Based on responses from a community sample of sexual assault survivors in an urban area of the midwestern United States, we found that while both types of social support predicted latent class membership, the impact of each type of support varied between latent classes, such that social integration and perceived emotional support were differently impactful depending on one's experience of posttraumatic stress. Findings contribute to the ongoing discussion of social support as a vital community resource and suggest circumstances in which social integration and perceived emotional support may each be especially useful in reducing distress and promoting health.