2004 · Study · English
Readiness, Functioning, and Perceived Effectiveness in Community Prevention Coalitions: A Study of Communities That Care
Feinberg, M. E., Greenberg, M. T., & Osgood, D. W.
Feinberg, M. E., Greenberg, M. T., & Osgood, D. W. (2004). Readiness, Functioning, and Perceived Effectiveness in Community Prevention Coalitions: A Study of Communities That Care. American Journal of Community Psychology, 33(3-4), 163–176. doi.org/10.1023/b:ajcp.0000027003.75394.2b
Summary
Cross-sectional study of 21 Communities That Care prevention boards in Pennsylvania testing whether community readiness, prevention knowledge, coalition functioning and perceived barriers relate to how effective a coalition is judged to be. Interviews were conducted with 203 key leaders; community-level means of the self-report measures were analysed alone and alongside ratings from research staff and state technical-assistance staff. Readiness was strongly linked to perceived effectiveness, but the link ran through internal coalition functioning, which mediated it. The extent of a board’s links to outside community bodies was unrelated to perceived effectiveness. Member turnover and infighting emerged as the main threats to internal functioning. The outcome is perceived rather than measured effectiveness, an important limitation. Still, the study is an early empirical argument for assessing community readiness before launching CTC and for protecting the internal working of the board – points that European CTC support structures have since built into Phase 1.