title: Measurement Performance of the Sense of Community Index in Substance Abuse Recovery Communal Housing.
abstract: A critical concept in the community psychology has been the sense of community. One of the better known instruments developed and evaluated to measure this construct is the Sense of Community Index (SCI: Perkins, Florin, Rich, Wandersman, & Chavis, 1990). The present research examined the unidimensionalSCI's measurement properties with an adult population (n= 662;Mage = 38.4) recovering from substance abuse and residing in Oxford House recovery residences. Overall, theSCIexhibited sufficient reliability as a unidimensional instrument, but lacked reliability as a theoretical four factor model. It did, however, demonstrate an invariant 3 factor latent structure relating torationale for connection(7 items),social bonds(3 items), andpersonal importance(2 items). Race was found to be associated withpersonal importance. In addition,personal importancewas predictive of the likelihood of remaining a resident in Oxford House. The implications of these findings for the field of resilience are discussed.
authors.affiliation: DePaul University.
authors.forename: Edward B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.affiliation: DePaul University.
authors.forename: Leonard A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Jason
authors.affiliation: DePaul University.
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ferrari
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