“Collaboration Toward One Collective Goal”: A Mixed-Methods Study of Short-Term Learning Outcomes and Long-Term Impacts Among Students Participating in an Undergraduate Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Course

Background: Research shows positive learning outcomes for students participating in service learning. However, the impacts of undergraduate student participation in Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) courses are minimally studied.Methods: We used a triangulation mixed-methods design approach to analyze short- and long-term (1–5 years post-course) data collected from 59 undergraduate students across 5 cohorts of a CBPR course (2014–19). Thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data and descriptive statistics and frequencies were generated to analyze the quantitative data.Results: We developed five key themes based on short-term qualitative data: integration of CBPR and traditional research skills; importance of community engagement in research; identity; accountability; and collaboration. Themes from qualitative course evaluations aligned with these findings. Long-term qualitative data revealed that former students gained research knowledge, research skills, and professional skills and then applied these in other settings. This aligns with quantitative findings, where >79% of respondents reported that course participation “extensively” improved their research skills. Post-course, students still reflected on the importance of community engagement in research and reported a substantially enhanced likelihood of civic engagement.Discussion/Conclusions: Students gained critical knowledge and skills that positively impact their ability to engage in community-based work well after the end of course participation. Some students reported considering research-oriented careers and graduate programs for the first time after course participation. Collaborative learning experiences with community partners and members encouraged students to reflect on research designs that center community voices. We stress here that community partnerships require extensive cultivation, but they can create opportunities to translate findings directly back to communities and provide numerous benefits to undergraduate students. We hope that our findings provide the information needed to consider pilot testing practice-based CBPR courses in a variety of public health training contexts

Neighborhood Influences on Perceived Social Support Among Parents: Findings from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods

Background: Social support is frequently linked to positive parenting behavior. Similarly, studies increasingly show a link between neighborhood residential environment and positive parenting behavior. However, less is known about how the residential environment influences parental social support. To address this gap, we examine the relationship between neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and collective efficacy and the level and change in parental caregiver perceptions of non-familial social support. Methodology/Principal Findings: The data for this study came from three data sources, the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) Study's Longitudinal Cohort Survey of caregivers and their offspring, a Community Survey of adult residents in these same neighborhoods and the 1990 Census. Social support is measured at Wave 1 and Wave 3 and neighborhood characteristics are measured at Wave 1. Multilevel linear regression models are fit. The results show that neighborhood collective efficacy is a significant ($\beta$ = .04; SE = .02; p = .03), predictor of the positive change in perceived social support over a 7 year period, however, not of the level of social support, adjusting for key compositional variables and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. In contrast concentrated neighborhood disadvantage is not a significant predictor of either the level or change in social support. Conclusion: Our finding suggests that neighborhood collective efficacy may be important for inducing the perception of support from friends in parental caregivers over time

Multilevel OLS Regression Coefficients, Standard Errors and P-values for Models of Effects of Caregiver and Neighborhood Characteristics on the <i>Change</i> in Parental Support.

<p>Multilevel OLS Regression Coefficients, Standard Errors and P-values for Models of Effects of Caregiver and Neighborhood Characteristics on the <i>Change</i> in Parental Support.</p

Multilevel OLS Regression Coefficients, Standard Errors and P-values for Models of Effects of Caregiver and Neighborhood Characteristics on the <i>Level</i> of Parental Support.

<p>Multilevel OLS Regression Coefficients, Standard Errors and P-values for Models of Effects of Caregiver and Neighborhood Characteristics on the <i>Level</i> of Parental Support.</p

Variance Parameter Estimates for Change in Parental Caregiver Perceived Social Support.

A<p>Intra-class correlation coefficient, proportion of the unexplained variation in parental caregiver perceived social support attributable to the neighborhood level.</p>∼<p>p<.10,</p>*<p>p<.05,</p>**<p>p<.01,</p>***<p>p<.001.</p

Variance Parameter Estimates for Baseline Parental Caregiver Perceived Social Support.

A<p>Intra-class correlation coefficient, proportion of the unexplained variation in parental caregiver perceived social support attributable to the neighborhood level.</p>∼<p>p<.10,</p>*<p>p<.05,</p>**<p>p<.01,</p>***<p>p<.001.</p

Items Measuring Caregiver Perceived Friend Social Support.

A<p>Items not included in Wave 3 social support measure, therefore excluded from construction of final measure.</p