Empowerment in Community-Based Prevention Coalitions: Differential Effects of Organizational Characteristics for Volunteers and Paid Staff

Background: Coalitions often create changes in public policy or other environmental conditions that influence the prevalence of substance abuse in communities. The present study contributes to the literature through an examination of the distinct processes for different subgroups of participants within coalitions as they work to implement community-level substance abuse prevention strategies. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to determine whether the hypothesized relationships between organizational characteristics, empowerment variables, and perceived effectiveness differed for two subgroups (i.e., volunteers and paid staff) of coalition members.

Methods: Participants (n = 406) were volunteers and paid staff affiliated with 17 regional, community-based coalitions. Data were collected in 2013 as part of a parent study to evaluate effects of a statewide substance abuse prevention initiative in the northeastern U.S. Most of the participants were female (72%); white (62%); and not of Latino or Hispanic origin (96%). Cross-sectional data were collected through a web-based, self-administered survey containing 48 items from existing, validated instruments designed to assess the following constructs: opportunity role structure, leadership, sense of community, engagement, intrapersonal empowerment, and interactional empowerment.

Structural equation modeling was performed to examine whether the hypothesized relationships differed between volunteers and paid staff. Multiple-group analysis procedures of AMOS 22 were used to test a non-restricted model in which the parameter estimates were allowed to differ across the two subgroups, and a restricted model in which all estimated parameters were required to be equal across the two subgroups of participants.

Results: Model comparison tests indicated that the non-restricted model fit the data better than the restricted model    (D X² = 48.16; D df = 25, p < .01). The non-restricted model provided a good model-to-data fit (X²(4) = 4.24, p = .375; CFI = 1.0, NFI = 0.994, RMSEA = 0.013). Based on these results, we concluded that coalition volunteers and paid staff were different from one another in terms of the hypothesized relationships between organizational characteristics, empowerment variables, and perceived effectiveness.

Analysis of the parameter values and their significance for each of the two subgroups showed that opportunity role structure had an indirect effect on intrapersonal empowerment through its effect on sense of community; however, this indirect effect was significant only for volunteers. In addition, coalition engagement was found to mediate the effect of sense of community on interactional empowerment; however, this meditational effect was significant only among paid staff. The effects of opportunity role structure and sense of community on perceived coalition effectiveness were significant and similarly strong for both subgroups.

Implications: Results extend previous research by demonstrating differential effects of organizational characteristics on empowerment for two distinct subgroups. Findings suggest that practitioners should recognize the important differences between subgroups and tailor their strategies to the unique strengths and needs as they develop interventions to enhance the capacity of community-based coalitions. This study of empowerment-based participatory processes contributes to literature that can guide leaders in the substance abuse prevention field as they work to strengthen coalition capacity and increase coalitions’ impact on community outcomes.