Participatory community action research in homeless shelters: Outcomes for shelter residents and service-learning research assistants.

The article reports empirical outcomes of an ongoing transdisciplinary participatory community action research project that implements behavioral activation in homeless shelters. The overall goal of this Project is twofold: (1) to improve psychosocial functioning of shelter residents and enhance their opportunities to overcome homelessness; and (2) to enhance civic development of service-learning students who assist in Project implementation. Two studies are reported, representing these goals. Study 1 found that residents of a men's shelter (n = 892), women's shelter (n = 433), and transitional housing (n = 40) perceived behavioral activation sessions as immediately beneficial (i.e., important, meaningful, worthy of repeating, and enjoyable), and over the course of shelter stay, they perceived behavioral activation as contributing to their hope, empowerment/self-sufficiency, quality of life, purpose/meaning in life, wellbeing, social support, shelter social climate, and relationships with staff. Quantitative findings are supported by qualitative data (comments by residents on forms). Study 2, which replicates and extends past research on civic-development in service-learning students, used a new quasi-experimental design to compare service-learning students (n = 41) in an interdisciplinary course on homelessness versus non-service-learning students (n = 16) in a psychology course. Service-learning students showed pre- to post-semester improvements in community service self-efficacy, decreases in stigmatizing attitudes, and increases in awareness of privilege and oppression, but students not engaged in service-learning did not show these civic-related changes. These quantitative results are supported by qualitative data (written reflections by students). Results and implications are discussed within the context of the concept of psychopolitical validity.

Benefits of a health advocacy intervention intended to improve self-efficacy for self-care in residents of a homeless shelter.

Despite a great need for healthcare, unhoused individuals encounter significant barriers to utilizing public healthcare systems. Given the inequities in access to healthcare, accompanied by disabilities and health risks associated with homelessness, self-efficacy for self-care is particularly critical. As a primary purpose of this article, we describe a self-care intervention (Health Advocacy Behavioral Activation), which was implemented within a long-standing participatory community action research project for homeless shelters, and report evidence of the intervention's effectiveness in enhancing self-efficacy for self-care. Participants included 62 residents of the St. Vincent de Paul Gateway Shelter for Men (Dayton, Ohio). Shelter residents with disabilities and those without disability benefited approximately equally from the intervention and both showed statistically significant pre- to post-intervention improvements in self-efficacy for self-care. Recommendations for future research examining the effectiveness of the intervention are provided. As a secondary (supplementary) purpose, we report preliminary evidence of psychometric validation for a new instrument (Scale of Self-Efficacy for Self-Care), which was developed in service of our primary purpose (i.e., to examine the effects of intervention on self-efficacy for self-care) because a literature search did not identify an appropriate measure. Because this new instrument fills a void in the literature, we anticipate that it will be useful in practice and research, and so we delineate research recommendations for additional psychometric validation of this measure. Because of the barriers that unhoused people encounter with regard to access to healthcare in the community, self-care interventions provided (and evaluated) on-site (e.g., in homeless shelters) are necessary.

The Citizen Psychologist Curriculum-Preparing psychologists for public service: The 2018 American Psychological Association Presidential Initiative.

This article describes a curriculum developed as part of the American Psychological Association President Jessica Henderson Daniel's, 2018 Presidential Initiative-The Citizen Psychologist. The curriculum is designed to prepare the next generation of Citizen Psychologists to provide the broadest sense of service as leaders in their communities and in public service psychology. The curriculum prepares the learner to bring psychological knowledge, science, and expertise to bear on existing challenges to improve community well-being locally, nationally, and globally. This includes addressing the services needs of various vulnerable populations such as veterans, prisoners, the seriously mentally ill, those with substance abuse problems, children, and older adults. Competency-based curricula are presented in a series of modules, each dedicated to a level of education and training from high school through lifelong learning. Each module presents learning outcomes, activities, and resources designed to develop level-specific competencies. Steps for implementation and recommendations at the local and national level are provided. Implications of incorporating the Citizen Psychologist curriculum in education and training programs are discussed including encouraging students to explore volunteer and career opportunities in public service psychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Self-efficacy in service-learning community action research: theory, research, and practice.

The purpose of this article is threefold: In the first section, an overview of research and theory on the self-efficacy construct is provided, and the central role of self-efficacy in service-learning community action research is demonstrated. The second section reviews over 10 years of research validating the Community Service Self-Efficacy Scale (CSSES), which measures the individual's confidence in his or her own ability to make clinically (meaningfully) significant contributions to the community through service. Within the context of this review, recent (previously unpublished) validation research is also reviewed. Alternate versions of the CSSES, each of which was developed for a specific purpose, are presented. The third section provides recommendations for further research focused on (a) validating the CSSES and (b) examining self-efficacy as an outcome, moderator, and mediating variable in service-learning community action research.

Assessment of home-based behavior modification programs for autistic children: reliability and validity of the behavioral summarized evaluation.

Since the publication of Lovaas' (1987) impressive findings, there has been a proliferation of home-based behavior modification programs for autistic children. Parents and other paraprofessionals often play key roles in the implementation and monitoring of these programs. The Behavioral Summarized Evaluation (BSE) was developed for professionals and paraprofessionals to use in assessing the severity of autistic symptoms over the course of treatment. This paper examined the psychometric properties of the BSE (inter-item consistency, factorial composition, convergent validity, and sensitivity to parents' perceptions of symptom change over time) when used by parents of autistic youngsters undergoing home-based intervention. Recommendations for future research are presented.

The community service self-efficacy scale: further evidence on reliability and validity.

The Community Service Self-Efficacy Scale (CSSES) measures". . . the individual's confidence in his or her own ability to make clinically significant contributions to the community through service" (Reeb et al., p. 48). Three studies reported in this article replicate and extend past CSSES research. With regard to reliability, results replicate past research in demonstrating internal consistency and temporal consistency. Convergent validity was demonstrated by the finding that, as hypothesized, the CSSES correlated moderately with a measure of general self-efficacy. As hypothesized, the correlation between the CSSES and a measure of social desirability was low in magnitude and non-significant, demonstrating discriminant validity. Regarding gender differences, females tended to score somewhat higher than males on the CSSES. With respect to construct validity, CSSES scores changed in the hypothesized direction in response to an intervention. While past CSSES research focused on college students, one study reported in this paper shows that the CSSES is useful in studying adolescents, including those with psychosocial adjustment problems.