Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Comparing the Functioning of Youth and Adult Partnerships for Health Promotion

  • Original Article
  • Published:
American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

Youth partnerships are a promising but understudied strategy for prevention and health promotion. Specifically, little is known about how the functioning of youth partnerships differs from that of adult partnerships. Accordingly, this study compared the functioning of youth partnerships with that of adult partnerships. Several aspects of partnership functioning, including leadership, task focus, cohesion, participation costs and benefits, and community support, were examined. Standardized partnership functioning surveys were administered to participants in three smoke-free youth coalitions (n = 44; 45 % female; 43 % non-Hispanic white; mean age = 13) and in 53 Communities That Care adult coalitions (n = 673; 69 % female; 88 % non-Hispanic white; mean age = 49). Multilevel regression analyses showed that most aspects of partnership functioning did not differ significantly between youth and adult partnerships. These findings are encouraging given the success of the adult partnerships in reducing community-level rates of substance use and delinquency. Although youth partnership functioning appears to be strong enough to support effective prevention strategies, youth partnerships faced substantially more participation difficulties than adult partnerships. Strategies that youth partnerships can use to manage these challenges, such as creative scheduling and increasing opportunities for youth to help others directly, are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akiva, T., Cortina, K. S., & Smith, C. (2014). Involving youth in program decision-making: How common and what might it do for youth? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 1844–1860. doi:10.1007/s10964-014-0183-y.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L. D. (2012). Consumer-run mental health: Framework for recovery. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L. D., Alter, T. R., Brown, L. G., Corbin, M. A., Flaherty-Craig, C., McPhail, L. G., & Weaver, M. E. (2013). Rural Embedded Assistants for Community Health (REACH) Network: First-person accounts in a community-university partnership. American Journal of Community Psychology, 51(1–2), 206–216. doi:10.1007/s10464-012-9515-9.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L. D., Chilinski, S., Ramos, R., Gallegos, N., & Feinberg, M. E. (2015). Community prevention coalition context and capacity assessment: Comparing the United States and Mexico. Health Education & Behavior (in press).

  • Brown, L. D., Feinberg, M. E., & Greenberg, M. T. (2010). Determinants of community coalition ability to support evidence-based programs. Prevention Science, 11, 287–297. doi:10.1007/s11121-010-0173-6.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L. D., Feinberg, M. E., & Greenberg, M. T. (2012). Measuring coalition functioning: Refining constructs through factor analysis. Health Education & Behavior, 39, 486–497. doi:10.1177/1090198111419655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L. D., Feinberg, M. E., Shapiro, V. B., & Greenberg, M. T. (2015b). Reciprocal relations between coalition characteristics and the provision of implementation support. Prevention Science, 16, 101–109. doi:10.1007/s11121-013-0447-x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, M. W., & Spink, K. S. (2011). Effects of team building on exercise adherence and group task satisfaction in a youth activity setting. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 15(2), 161–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butterfoss, F. D. (2007). Coalitions and partnerships in community health. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butterfoss, F. D., Goodman, R. M., & Wandersman, A. (1996). Community coalitions for prevention and health promotion: Factors predicting satisfaction, participation, and planning. Health Education Quarterly, 23, 65–79.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Butterfoss, F. D., & Kegler, M. C. (2009). The community coalition action theory. In R. J. DiClemente, R. A. Crosby, & M. C. Kegler (Eds.), Emerging theories in health promotion practice and research (2nd ed., pp. 237–276). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Camino, L. A. (2000). Youth–adult partnerships: Entering new territory in community work and research. Applied Developmental Science, 4(S1), 11–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chinman, M. J., Wandersman, A., & Goodman, R. M. (2005). A benefit-and-cost approach to understanding social participation and volunteerism in multilevel organizations. In A. M. Omoto (Ed.), Processes of community change and social action (pp. 105–125). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chutuape, K. S., Willard, N., Sanchez, K., Straub, D. M., Ochoa, T. N., Howell, K., & Ellen, J. M. (2010). Mobilizing communities around HIV prevention for youth: How three coalitions applied key strategies to bring about structural changes. AIDS Education and Prevention, 22(1), 15–27. doi:10.1521/aeap.2010.22.1.15.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Delgado, M., & Staples, L. (2008). Youth-led community organizing: Theory and action. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denison, J. A., Tsui, S., Bratt, J., Torpey, K., Weaver, M. A., & Kabaso, M. (2012). Do peer educators make a difference? An evaluation of a youth-led HIV prevention model in Zambian schools. Health Education Research, 27(2), 237–247.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Durlak, J. A., & DuPre, E. P. (2008). Implementation matters: A review of research on the influence of implementation on program outcomes and the factors affecting implementation. American Journal of Community Psychology, 41, 327–350.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. (2014). American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, from http://www.ahdictionary.com/

  • El Ansari, W., & Phillips, C. J. (2001). Interprofessional collaboration: A stakeholder approach to evaluation of voluntary participation in community partnerships. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 15(4), 351–368.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fagan, A. A., Brooke-Weiss, B., Cady, R., & Hawkins, J. D. (2009). If at first you don’t succeed … keep trying: Strategies to enhance coalition/school partnerships to implement school-based prevention programming. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 42(3), 387–405.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feinberg, M. E., Bontempo, D., & Greenberg, M. T. (2008a). Predictors and level of sustainability of community prevention coalitions. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34, 495–501.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feinberg, M. E., Gomez, B., Puddy, R. W., & Greenberg, M. T. (2008b). Evaluation and community prevention coalitions: Validation of an integrated web-based/technical assistance consultant model. Health Education and Behavior, 35, 9–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feinberg, M. E., Greenberg, M. T., Osgood, D. W., Sartorius, J., & Bontempo, D. (2007). Effects of the Communities That Care Model in Pennsylvania on youth risk and problem behaviors. Prevention Science, 8, 261–270.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feinberg, M. E., Jones, D., Greenberg, M. T., Osgood, D. W., & Bontempo, D. (2010). Effects of the Communities That Care model in Pennsylvania on change in adolescent risk and problem behaviors. Prevention Science, 11, 163–171.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Foster-Fishman, P. G., Berkowitz, S. L., Lounsbury, D. W., Jacobson, S., & Allen, N. A. (2001). Building collaborative capacity in community coalitions: A review and integrative framework. American Journal of Community Psychology, 29, 241–261.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, H., Carpenter, J., Kenward, M. G., & Levin, K. A. (2009). Multilevel models with multivariate mixed response types. Statistical Modelling, 9, 173–197. doi:10.1177/1471082X0800900301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, M. T., Feinberg, M. E., Gomez, B., & Osgood, D. W. (2005). Testing a community prevention focused model of coalition functioning and sustainability: A comprehensive study of Communities That Care in Pennsylvania. In T. Stockwell, P. Gruenewald, J. W. Toumbourou, & W. Loxley (Eds.), Preventing harmful substance use: The evidence base for policy and practice. London: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, M. T., Feinberg, M. E., Johnson, L. E., Perkins, D. F., Welsh, J. A., & Spoth, R. L. (2015). Factors that predict financial sustainability of community coalitions: Five years of findings from the prosper partnership project. Prevention Science, 16, 158–167. doi:10.1007/s11121-014-0483-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., & Arthur, M. W. (2002). Promoting science-based prevention in communities. Addictive Behaviors, 27, 951–976.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, J. D., Oesterle, S., Brown, E. C., Monahan, K. C., Abbott, R. D., Arthur, M. W., & Catalano, R. F. (2012). Sustained decreases in risk exposure and youth problem behaviors after installation of the Communities That Care prevention system in a randomized trial. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 166, 141–148. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.183.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holt, N. L., Kingsley, B. C., Tink, L. N., & Scherer, J. (2011). Benefits and challenges associated with sport participation by children and parents from low-income families. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 12(5), 490–499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaner, S. (2007). Facilitator’s guide to participatory decision-making. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kegler, M. C., Steckler, A., McLeroy, K., & Malek, S. H. (1998). Factors that contribute to effective community health promotion coalitions: A study of ten Project ASSIST coalitions in North Carolina. Health Education and Behavior, 25, 338–353.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kegler, M. C., & Swan, D. W. (2012). Advancing coalition theory: The effect of coalition factors on community capacity mediated by member engagement. Health Education Research, 27(4), 572–584.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krauss, S. E., Collura, J., Zeldin, S., Ortega, A., Abdullah, H., & Sulaiman, A. H. (2014). Youth–adult partnership: Exploring contributions to empowerment, agency and community connections in Malaysian youth programs. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(9), 1550–1562.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kumpfer, K. L., Turner, C., Hopkins, R., & Librett, J. (1993). Leadership and team effectiveness in community coalitions for the prevention of alcohol and other drug abuse. Health Education Research, 8, 359–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, R., & Angus, R. M. (2011). Adolescents’ development of skills for agency in youth programs: Learning to think strategically. Child Development, 82(1), 277–294.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, R., Walker, K., & Pearce, N. (2005). A comparison of youth-driven and adult-driven youth programs: Balancing inputs from youth and adults. Journal of Community Psychology, 33, 57–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitra, D. L., Sanders, F. C., & Perkins, D. F. (2010). Providing spark and stability: The role of intermediary organizations in establishing school-based youth–adult partnerships. Applied Developmental Science, 14(2), 106–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ribisl, K. M., Steckler, A., Linnan, L., Patterson, C. C., Pevzner, E. S., Markatos, E., & Peterson, A. B. (2004). The North Carolina Youth Empowerment Study (NC YES): A participatory research study examining the impact of youth empowerment for tobacco use prevention. Health Education & Behavior, 31(5), 597–614. doi:10.1177/1090198104268550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, T., Howard-Pitney, B., Feighery, E. C., Altman, D. G., Endres, J. M., & Roeseler, A. G. (1993). Characteristics and participant perceptions of tobacco control coalitions in California. Health Education Research, 8, 345–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roussos, S. T., & Fawcett, S. B. (2000). A review of collaborative partnerships as a strategy for improving community health. Annual Review of Public Health, 21, 369–402.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sofaer, S. (2004). Working together, moving ahead: A manual to support effective community health coalitions. New York: Baruch College, City University of New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Southerland, J., Behringer, B., & Slawson, D. L. (2013). Using the give–get grid to understand potential expectations of engagement in a community–academic partnership. Health Promotion Practice, 14(6), 909–917.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tolma, E. L., Cheney, M. K., Troup, P., & Hann, N. (2009). Design the process evaluation for the collaborative planning of a local turning point partnership. Health Promotion Practice, 10(4), 537–548.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Valente, T. W., Ritt-Olson, A., Stacy, A., Unger, J. B., Okamoto, J., & Sussman, S. (2007). Peer acceleration: Effects of a social network tailored substance abuse prevention program among high-risk adolescents. Addiction, 102(11), 1804–1815. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2007.01992.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wells, R., Feinberg, M. E., Alexander, J. A., & Ward, A. J. (2009). Factors affecting member perceptions of coalition impact. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 19, 327–348. doi:10.1002/nml.222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wells, R., Ward, A. J., Feinberg, M., & Alexander, J. A. (2008). What motivates people to participate more in community-based coalitions? American Journal of Community Psychology, 42(1–2), 94–104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wernick, L. J., Woodford, M. R., & Siden, Y. J. (2010). Youth-led participatory action research: Fostering effective youth–adult partnerships. In L. M. Harter, J. Hamel-Labert, & J. L. Millesen (Eds.), Participatory partnerships for social action and research (pp. 165–186). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, N. T., Zimmerman, M. A., & Parker, E. A. (2010). A typology of youth participation and empowerment for child and adolescent health promotion. American Journal of Community Psychology, 46(1–2), 100–114. doi:10.1007/s10464-010-9330-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zakocs, R. C., & Edwards, E. M. (2006). What explains community coalition effectiveness? A review of the literature. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30, 351–361.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zakocs, R. C., & Guckenburg, S. (2007). What coalition factors foster community capacity? Lessons learned from the fighting back initiative. Health Education & Behavior, 34, 354–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeldin, S., Christens, B. D., & Powers, J. L. (2013). The psychology and practice of youth–adult partnership: Bridging generations for youth development and community change. American Journal of Community Psychology, 51(3–4), 385–397.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zeldin, S., Krauss, S. E., Collura, J., Lucchesi, M., & Sulaiman, A. H. (2014). Conceptualizing and measuring youth–adult partnership in community programs: A cross national study. American Journal of Community Psychology, 54, 337–347. doi:10.1007/s10464-014-9676-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the Paso del Norte Health Foundation (PDNHF) and the Pennsylvania Commission for Crime and Delinquency (PCCD). Additionally, preparation of this article was supported, in part, by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) through a Community Networks Program Center grant (U54 CA153505). Findings and recommendations herein are not official statements of the PDNHF, PCCD, or NCI. We are grateful to the many youth and adult partnership members for their cooperation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, 1101 N. Campbell, Room 409, El Paso, TX, 79902, USA

    Louis D. Brown, Alisha H. Redelfs & Reanna L. Messer

  2. Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Thomas J. Taylor

Authors
  1. Louis D. Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alisha H. Redelfs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Thomas J. Taylor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Reanna L. Messer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Louis D. Brown.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Brown, L.D., Redelfs, A.H., Taylor, T.J. et al. Comparing the Functioning of Youth and Adult Partnerships for Health Promotion. Am J Community Psychol 56, 25–35 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-015-9730-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-015-9730-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation