title: Building Local Infrastructure for Community Adoption of Science-Based Prevention: The Role of Coalition Functioning.
abstract: The widespread adoption of science-based prevention requires local infrastructures for prevention service delivery. Communities That Care (CTC) is a tested prevention service delivery system that enables a local coalition of community stakeholders to use a science-based approach to prevention and improve the behavioral health of young people. This paper uses data from the Community Youth Development Study (CYDS), a community-randomized trial of CTC, to examine the extent to which better internal team functioning of CTC coalitions increases the community-wide adoption of science-based prevention within 12 communities, relative to 12 matched comparison communities. Specifically, this paper examines the potential of both a direct relationship between coalition functioning and the community-wide adoption of science-based prevention and a direct relationship between functioning and the coalition capacities that ultimately enable the adoption of science-based prevention. Findings indicate no evidence of a direct relationship between four dimensions of coalition functioning and the community-wide adoption of a science-based approach to prevention, but suggest a relationship between coalition functioning and coalition capacities (building new member skills and establishing external linkages with existing community organizations) that enable science-based prevention.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, 120 Haviland Hall #7400, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA. vshapiro@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Valerie B
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.affiliation: Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, 9725 3rd Ave NE, Suite 401, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA.
authors.forename: J David
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Hawkins
authors.affiliation: Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, 9725 3rd Ave NE, Suite 401, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oesterle
mesh_terms: D057191:Capacity Building; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D011315:Preventive Medicine; D036301:Qualitative Research; D014481:United States
keywords: Capacities; Coalition; Communities That Care; Community-level intervention; Functioning; Science-based prevention