Psychological Empowerment Among Urban Youth: Measurement Model and Associations with Youth Outcomes

Abstract

Empowerment-based strategies have become widely used method to address health inequities and promote social change. Few researchers, however, have tested theoretical models of empowerment, including multidimensional, higher-order models. We test empirically a multidimensional, higher-order model of psychological empowerment (PE), guided by Zimmerman’s (1995) conceptual framework including three components of PE: intrapersonal, interactional and behavioral. We also investigate if PE is associated with positive and negative outcomes among youth. The sample included 367 middle school youth aged 11–16 (M = 12.71; SD = 0.91); 60% female, 32% (n =117) white youth, 46% (n = 170) African-American youth, and 22% (n = 80) identifying as mixed race, Asian-American, Latino, Native American or other ethnic/racial group; schools reported 61–75% free/reduced lunch students. Our results indicated that each of the latent factors for the three PE components demonstrate a good fit with the data. Our results also indicated that these components loaded on to a higher-order PE factor (X2=32.68, df: 22, p=0.07; RMSEA: 0.04, 95% CI: 0.00, 0.06; CFI: 0.99). We found that the second order PE factor was negatively associated with aggressive behavior and positively associated with prosocial engagement. Our results suggest that empowerment-focused programs would benefit from incorporating components addressing how youth think about themselves in relation to their social contexts (intrapersonal), understanding social and material resources needed to achieve specific goals (interactional) and actions taken to influence outcomes (behavioral). Our results also suggest that integrating the three components and promoting PE may help increase likelihood of positive behaviors (e.g., prosocial involvement); we did not find an association between PE and aggressive behavior. Implications and future directions for empowerment research are discussed.

An examination of ethnic identity as a mediator of the effects of community participation and neighborhood sense of community on psychological empowerment among urban youth of color

“…Mounting evidence is present that indicates the importance of cultural and community‐based resources in predicting PE and empowering youth. The extant research specifically highlights the critical relationship between community‐based mechanisms or variables such as neighborhood sense of community (SOC) and community participation on PE (Christens et al., ; Eisman et al., ). Yet little research exists that reports on the role ethnic identity plays with PE and among predictors (e.g., neighborhood SOC and community participation).…”

Validation of an abbreviated Sociopolitical Control Scale for Youth among a sample of underresourced urban youth of color

“…Studies examining PE at the intrapersonal level have done so through sociopolitical control, which is considered a vital element of the intrapersonal component of PE (Christens et al., ; Christens et al., ). Sociopolitical control has been examined as a process of empowerment (e.g., bin Abdullah, Almadhoun, & Ying‐Leh, ; Christens et al., ; Lardier, ; Ozer & Schotland, ), an outcome (e.g., Christens & Lin, ; Christens & Peterson, ; Christens et al, ), and an indicator of well‐being (Christens, Peterson, Reid, & Garcia‐Reid, ; Eisman et al., ).…”

“…Studies have examined the ways in which the intrapersonal component of PE relates to social participation and other mechanisms of empowerment (e.g., community participation, neighborhood sense of community [SOC], ethnic identity, and cognitive empowerment; Christens & Peterson, ; Christens et al., ; Christens et al., ; Christens et al., ; Eisman et al., ; Lardier, ; Lardier, Garcia‐Reid, & Reid, ; Peterson, Peterson et al., ; Peterson, Speer, & Peterson, ; Speer, Peterson, Armstead, & Allen, ). There is a need, however, to unpack these relationships, particularly in today's U.S. society, where youth are engaging in critical and empowering social activities at higher rates than in previous decades (Forenza, Rogers, & Lardier, ).…”

“…In addition to cognitive empowerment, intrapersonal PE has also been implicated in predicting neighborhood SOC, community participation, and ethnic identity. Numerous investigations show the relationship between intrapersonal PE and neighborhood SOC (i.e., collective efficacy and neighboring or sharing among neighbors and mutual assistance; Perkins & Long, ) intrapersonal (Lardier, ; Lardier, Garcia‐Reid, et al., ), community participation intrapersonal (Christens et al., ; Eisman et al., ; Lardier, ; Speer et al., ), and ethnic identity intrapersonal (Hipolito‐Delgado & Zion, ; Lardier, ; Lardier, Garcia‐Reid, et al., ). For instance, recent studies indicate that youth of color living in low socioeocomic status communites may have diffuclty cultivating empowerment because they have limited access to both organizations and resources (Kirshner & Ginwright, ; Speer et al., ); however, when provided access to empowering community activites, youth have been found to report higher rates of community belongingness and intrapersonal PE (Lardier, ; Lardier, Garcia‐Reid, et al., ), particularly in the presence of supportive youth–adult partnerships (Zeldin, Krauss, Kim, Collura, & Abdullah, ).…”

The Child And The City: Urban Environment`S Value And Psychological Space Sovereignty

“…According to A.B. Eisman et al (2016), encouraging the extension of children's rights and opportunities (Psychological Empowerment) can help increase the probability of their positive prosocial behaviour and decrease aggressiveness. In other words, https: //dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2018.07.8 Corresponding Author: Irina V. Vorobyeva Selection and peer-review under …”