“Lessons that simply cannot be lectured”: Highlighting the experiences and benefits of undergraduates engaged in community psychology research

Globally, Community Psychology (CP) currently struggles with a lack of visibility and a shortage of platforms from which to engage future researchers and practitioners. Many of these future researchers and practitioners study psychology as part of their undergraduate education, making psychology departments in undergraduate institutions an ideal point of exposure. Discouragingly, however, undergraduate students are unlikely to be exposed to CP in their course curriculums forcing students to seek out opportunities for exposure elsewhere (Jimenez, 2016; Glantsman, McMahon & Njoku et al., 2015). This is especially true of Community Psychology within the United States. This study aimed to explore how students got involved in CP research and the benefits of that involvement. A total of 34 former undergraduate research assistants involved in CP research teams at Michigan State University completed a 20-item online questionnaire comprised of open- and closed-ended questions. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively and qualitative data were analyzed using an iterative coding process. Results showed that the majority of students had no experience in CP and merely stumbled upon the research. Despite this, respondents reported gaining many skills, competencies, and knowledge during their time on the research teams. Respondents particularly benefited from: 1) gaining hands-on and community-based research skills; 2) attaining transferable skills they could carry with them in future positions; 3) acquiring CP-specific competencies; and 4) cultivating greater awareness and passion for social issues. Finally, the majority of respondents discussed how their involvement on CP research teams honed in their interest and passions and/or shaped their professional trajectory.  These findings provide preliminary evidence of the benefits of CP research involvement at an undergraduate level and has important implications for how CP as a field may choose to invest in undergraduate research opportunities.&nbsp

“Lessons that simply cannot be lectured”: Highlighting the experiences and benefits of undergraduates engaged in community psychology research

Globally, Community Psychology (CP) currently struggles with a lack of visibility and a shortage of platforms from which to engage future researchers and practitioners. Many of these future researchers and practitioners study psychology as part of their undergraduate education, making psychology departments in undergraduate institutions an ideal point of exposure. Discouragingly, however, undergraduate students are unlikely to be exposed to CP in their course curriculums forcing students to seek out opportunities for exposure elsewhere (Jimenez, 2016; Glantsman, McMahon & Njoku et al., 2015). This is especially true of Community Psychology within the United States. This study aimed to explore how students got involved in CP research and the benefits of that involvement. A total of 34 former undergraduate research assistants involved in CP research teams at Michigan State University completed a 20-item online questionnaire comprised of open- and closed-ended questions. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively and qualitative data were analyzed using an iterative coding process. Results showed that the majority of students had no experience in CP and merely stumbled upon the research. Despite this, respondents reported gaining many skills, competencies, and knowledge during their time on the research teams. Respondents particularly benefited from: 1) gaining hands-on and community-based research skills; 2) attaining transferable skills they could carry with them in future positions; 3) acquiring CP-specific competencies; and 4) cultivating greater awareness and passion for social issues. Finally, the majority of respondents discussed how their involvement on CP research teams honed in their interest and passions and/or shaped their professional trajectory.  These findings provide preliminary evidence of the benefits of CP research involvement at an undergraduate level and has important implications for how CP as a field may choose to invest in undergraduate research opportunities.&nbsp

Ecological Barriers to HIV Service Access among Young Men who have Sex with Men and High-Risk Young Women from Low-resourced Urban Communities.

Using an ecological perspective, we sought to elucidate the perceived barriers preventing HIV service access among two groups of U.S. youth (ages 12-24) disproportionately affected by HIV, men who have sex with men and high-risk women. We content analyzed interviews with 318 key informants to identify distinct service barriers. The 29 barriers informants named were organized into six categories (service-seeking demands, stigmas, knowledge and awareness, service quality, powerful opposition, and negative emotions). Findings suggest that barriers impacting access to HIV prevention, testing, and linkage-to-care services are remarkably similar and point to the need for comprehensive approaches to improving youths access services that address both individual-level barriers and extra-individual barriers simultaneously. Findings can be used to guide future research, programming and interventions to reduce the disproportionate spread of HIV among US youth

Ecological Barriers to HIV Service Access among Young Men who have Sex with Men and High-Risk Young Women from Low-resourced Urban Communities.

Using an ecological perspective, we sought to elucidate the perceived barriers preventing HIV service access among two groups of U.S. youth (ages 12-24) disproportionately affected by HIV, men who have sex with men and high-risk women. We content analyzed interviews with 318 key informants to identify distinct service barriers. The 29 barriers informants named were organized into six categories (service-seeking demands, stigmas, knowledge and awareness, service quality, powerful opposition, and negative emotions). Findings suggest that barriers impacting access to HIV prevention, testing, and linkage-to-care services are remarkably similar and point to the need for comprehensive approaches to improving youth's access services that address both individual-level barriers and extra-individual barriers simultaneously. Findings can be used to guide future research, programming and interventions to reduce the disproportionate spread of HIV among US youth

Ecological Barriers to HIV Service Access among Young Men who have Sex with Men and High-Risk Young Women from Low-resourced Urban Communities.

Using an ecological perspective, we sought to elucidate the perceived barriers preventing HIV service access among two groups of U.S. youth (ages 12-24) disproportionately affected by HIV, men who have sex with men and high-risk women. We content analyzed interviews with 318 key informants to identify distinct service barriers. The 29 barriers informants named were organized into six categories (service-seeking demands, stigmas, knowledge and awareness, service quality, powerful opposition, and negative emotions). Findings suggest that barriers impacting access to HIV prevention, testing, and linkage-to-care services are remarkably similar and point to the need for comprehensive approaches to improving youth's access services that address both individual-level barriers and extra-individual barriers simultaneously. Findings can be used to guide future research, programming and interventions to reduce the disproportionate spread of HIV among US youth

Structural Effects on HIV Risk Among Youth: A Multi-level Analysis.

We proposed a multilevel model of structural influences on HIV-risky sexual partnerships in a diverse sample of 1793 youth residing in 23 states and the District of Columbia. We examined the influence of concentrated disadvantage, HIV stigma, and sexual and gender minority stigma on engagement in HIV risky sexual partnerships and whether youth's participation in opportunity structures, anticipation of HIV stigma, and perceptions of their community as youth-supportive settings mediated structural effects. After controlling for age, HIV status, and race, we found structural HIV stigma had deleterious indirect effects on youth's participation in HIV-risky sexual partnerships. Concentrated disadvantage and structural sexual and gender minority stigma had direct negative effects on youth's perceptions of their communities as supportive and on their participation in prosocial activity. Support perceptions had direct, protective effects on avoidance of HIV-risky sexual partnerships. Structural stigma undermines youth's belief that their communities invest in their safety and well-being

Structural Effects on HIV Risk Among Youth: A Multi-level Analysis.

We proposed a multilevel model of structural influences on HIV-risky sexual partnerships in a diverse sample of 1793 youth residing in 23 states and the District of Columbia. We examined the influence of concentrated disadvantage, HIV stigma, and sexual and gender minority stigma on engagement in HIV risky sexual partnerships and whether youth's participation in opportunity structures, anticipation of HIV stigma, and perceptions of their community as youth-supportive settings mediated structural effects. After controlling for age, HIV status, and race, we found structural HIV stigma had deleterious indirect effects on youth's participation in HIV-risky sexual partnerships. Concentrated disadvantage and structural sexual and gender minority stigma had direct negative effects on youth's perceptions of their communities as supportive and on their participation in prosocial activity. Support perceptions had direct, protective effects on avoidance of HIV-risky sexual partnerships. Structural stigma undermines youth's belief that their communities invest in their safety and well-being

Structural and Community Change Outcomes of the Connect-to-Protect Coalitions: Trials and Triumphs Securing Adolescent Access to HIV Prevention, Testing, and Medical Care.

Connect to Protect (C2P), a 10-year community mobilization effort, pursued the dual aims of creating communities competent to address youth's HIV-related risks and removing structural barriers to youth health. We used Community Coalition Action Theory (CCAT) to examine the perceived contributions and accomplishments of 14 C2P coalitions. We interviewed 318 key informants, including youth and community leaders, to identify the features of coalitions' context and operation that facilitated and undermined their ability to achieve structural change and build communities' capability to manage their local adolescent HIV epidemic effectively. We coded the interviews using an a priori coding scheme informed by CCAT and scholarship on AIDS-competent communities. We found community mobilization efforts like C2P can contribute to addressing the structural factors that promote HIV-risk among youth and to community development. We describe how coalition leadership, collaborative synergy, capacity building, and local community context influence coalitions' ability to successfully implement HIV-related structural change, demonstrating empirical support for many of CCAT's propositions. We discuss implications for how community mobilization efforts might succeed in laying the foundation for an AIDS-competent community