Neighborhood Self-Efficacy and Control among African Americans

Background: A key principle of community-based participatory research (CBPR) is that interventions developed will be used to promote positive change. Limited empirical data exists on the extent community residents are confident in the ability to make changes in their neighborhood and how much control individuals believe they have over what happens in their neighborhood.

Objective: To evaluate perceived control over neighborhood change and confidence to make these changes in a community-based sample of African American men and women ages 18-75 and identify socioeconomic and social factors having significant independent associations with these perceptions (n=487).

Results:  Most participants reported a little or a lot of control (64%) over what happens in their neighborhood and confidence they can improve their neighborhood (84%).  Participants who had some college or were college educated had a significantly greater likelihood of reporting a little/lot of control (OR=1.69, 95% OR=1.09, 2.60, p=0.02). Greater collective efficacy was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting control over what happens in their neighborhood (OR=2.25, 95% CI=1.59, 3.20, p=0.001).  Greater collective efficacy was associated with an increased likelihood of confidence to make neighborhood change (OR=2.00, 95% CI=1.19, 3.37, p=0.001).  Participants who belonged to at least one community organization were about three times more likely to be confident compared to those who belonged to none (OR=2.88, 95% CI=1,86, 4,46, p=0.01).      

Conclusions: The majority of African Americans are confident they can make changes and have control over what happens where they live.  Greater collective efficacy and involvement in community organizations were important to perceived confidence and control.