Louis D. Brown

Implementation of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in Elementary Schools: Observations from a Randomized Trial.

High fidelity implementation of school-wide PBIS has been linked with improvements in student and staff behavior, but less is known about which aspects of the model may be present in schools prior to training, and whether some features of PBIS are implemented faster than others. The present study examines the progression of school-wide PBIS implementation using School-wide Evaluation Tool data collected across three years from 21 schools randomly assigned to receive training in PBIS and 16 schools not trained in PBIS. Trained schools evidenced significantly higher levels of implementation fidelity. Non-trained schools showed some increases, but lagged behind trained schools on all subscales except Systems for Responding to Violations. Findings suggest that program trainers and behavior support coaches should concentrate initial efforts on strategies for Defining and Teaching Expectations, whereas less time may be needed for developing Systems for Responding to Violations. Recommendations for high fidelity implementation of school-wide PBIS are provided.

A Multi-Domain Self-Report Measure of Coparenting

Objectives . This study reports the psychometric properties of a multidomain measure of the coparenting relationship in dual-parent families. Method . A total of 152 couples participating in a transition to parenthood study completed the Coparenting Relationship Scale and additional measures during home visits at child age 6 months, 1 year, and 3 years. Results . Psychometric and construct validity assessments indicated the measure performed satisfactorily. The 35-item measure demonstrated good reliability and strong stability. Subscales measuring theoretically and empirically important aspects of coparenting (coparenting agreement, coparenting closeness, exposure of child to conflict, coparenting support, coparenting undermining, endorsement of partners parenting, and division of labor) demonstrated good reliability as well. A 14-item brief overall measure showed very strong associations with the overall measure. Relations of the full scale with a measure of social desirability were weak, and the full scale was positively associated with positive dimensions of the dyadic couple relationship (love, sex/romance, couple efficacy) and inversely associated with negative dimensions (conflict, ineffective arguing)—as expected. Conclusions . This initial examination of the Coparenting Relationship Scale suggests that it possesses good psychometric properties (reliability, stability, construct validity, and interrater agreement), can be flexibly administered in short and long forms, and is positioned to promote further conceptual and methodological progress in the study of coparenting.

Understanding How Participation in a Consumer-Run Organization Relates to Recovery

The goal of this study was to examine how different types of participation in a consumer-run organization (CRO) are related to recovery. More specifically, this study uses structural equation modeling to examine the relative impact of empowering and socially supportive participation experiences on progress towards recovery among 250 CRO members from 20 CROs. An empowering participation experience refers to involvement in leadership roles and contribution to organizational functioning. A socially supportive participation experience refers to social involvement in mutually supportive friendships with intimacy and sharing. Results indicate that both types of participation are associated with recovery, although a socially supportive participation experience maintains a stronger relationship with recovery than an empowering participation experience. Findings are consistent with the idea that CROs should encourage both types of participation. Drawing from over ten years of experience supporting CROs, the discussion section explores several strategies CROs can use to foster empowering and socially supportive participation experiences.

Determinants of Community Coalition Ability to Support Evidence-Based Programs

This study examines how aspects of coalition functioning predict a coalition’s ability to promote high-quality implementation of evidence-based programs (EBPs). The study involved 62 Communities That Care (CTC) coalitions in Pennsylvania measured annually from 2003 to 2007. Findings indicate that the communities with higher levels of poverty and longer existing coalitions are related to lower support for high-quality EBP implementation. Several aspects of coalition functioning—including higher levels of funding; leadership strength; board efficiency; strong internal and external relationships; and fidelity to the CTC model—significantly predicted support for high-quality EBP implementation. Earlier measurements of coalition functioning (2003–2004 and 2005–2006) predicted EBP implementation (2007) more strongly than concurrent coalition assessments (2007). The discussion focuses on how coalitions and technical assistance providers can improve coalition support for the implementation of EBPs.

Measuring Coalition Functioning: Refining Constructs Through Factor Analysis

Internal and external coalition functioning is an important predictor of coalition success that has been linked to perceived coalition effectiveness, coalition goal achievement, coalition ability to support evidence-based programs, and coalition sustainability. Understanding which aspects of coalition functioning best predict coalition success requires the development of valid measures of empirically unique coalition functioning constructs. The goal of the present study is to examine and refine the psychometric properties of coalition functioning constructs in the following six domains: leadership, interpersonal relationships, task focus, participation benefits/costs, sustainability planning, and community support. The authors used factor analysis to identify problematic items in our original measure and then piloted new items and scales to create a more robust, psychometrically sound, multidimensional measure of coalition functioning. Scales displayed good construct validity through correlations with other measures. Discussion considers the strengths and weaknesses of the refined instrument.

How people can benefit from mental health consumer-run organizations.

The goal of this study is to develop a more comprehensive theoretical understanding of the processes by which people can benefit from mental health consumer-run organizations (CROs). To accomplish this goal, the concept of roles is used to create a preliminary framework that draws connections between several established theoretical explanations. To ground theory development in empirical data, 194 CRO members from 20 CROs answered open-ended questions about what personal changes occurred as a result of their CRO involvement and what CRO participation experiences enabled personal change. Data analysis led to the identification of 18 personal change categories and 7 experiences that led to change. These categories were integrated into the preliminary theoretical framework, which needed to be extended to accommodate all categories. While inevitably tentative, the final conceptualization provides a more comprehensive understanding of the processes by which people can benefit from CRO participation.

Relating Engagement to Outcomes in Prevention: The Case of a Parenting Program for Couples

Analyses of program engagement can provide critical insight into how program involvement leads to outcomes. This study examines the relation between participant engagement and program outcomes in Family Foundations (FF), a universal preventive intervention designed to help couples manage the transition to parenthood by improving coparenting relationship quality. Previous intent-to-treat outcome analyses from a randomized trial indicate FF improves parental adjustment, interparental relationships, and parenting. Analyses for the current study use the same sample, and yield statistically reliable relations between participant engagement and interparental relationships but not parental adjustment or parenting. Discussion considers implications for FF and the difficulties researchers face when examining the relation between engagement and outcomes in preventive interventions.

Consumer-run mental health: Framework for recovery.

Chapter 1 - Introduction.- Defining Qualities of CROs.- History of CROs and Mental Health Care.- Research on the Effectiveness of CROs.- Organizational Dynamics.- Overview of the Book.- Chapter 2 - Using existing theory to build a conceptual framework of consumer-run organizations.- Part 1: Conceptualization of CRO Outcomes.- Part 2: Setting Characteristic Theories.- Part 3: Interpersonal Processes Within CROs.- Part 4: Roles and Identity Theory.- Part 5: The Preliminary Framework.- Chapter 3 - Refining the preliminary framework to create the role framework.- Focused Questions Methodology.- Categories and Causes of Personal Change.- Integrating Categories to Create the Role Framework.- Discussion.- Chapter 4 - Constructing journalistic life history narratives to explore the role of framework.-Conceptual and Epistemological Foundations of Narrative.- Narratives as a Research Methodology.- Integrating Journalism and Ethnographic Research.- Visual Storytelling.- Study Setting - The P.S. Club.- Study Sample.- Participant Observation.- Minimally Structured Interviews.- Life History Construction.- Analysis of Narratives.- Sharing Narratives.- Conclusion.- Chapter 5 - Life history narratives from the P.S. Club.- Life Inside Wellingtons Mental Health System.- Facing Serious Mental Illness, Running a Nonprofit.- Chapter 6 - Using narratives to understand how people benefit from CROs.- Summary Cross-Case Analysis of Life History Narratives.- Limitations and Future Research.- Conclusion.- Chapter 7 - How Organizations Influence Role Development.- Organizational Size.- Leadership Involvement.- Recovery.- Study Hypotheses.- Method.- Results.- Discussion.- Chapter 8 - Role development and recovery.- Role Development and Recovery.- Relating Friendship and Leadership Roles.- Study Overview and Hypotheses.- Method.- Results.- Interpretation of Results.- Promoting an Empowering Environment.- Promoting a Socially Supportive Environment.- Comparing Friendship and Leadership Roles.- Limitations and Future Research.- Conclusions.- General Insights Into the Recovery Process.- Summary Implications for Practice.- Strengths and Weaknesses of the Methods.- Future Research Directions.- Closing Remarks.

Organizational Capacity Needs of Consumer-Run Organizations

Consumer-run organizations (CROs) are self-help oriented organizations that are run entirely by consumers (people who use or have used mental health services). The current study utilizes an organizational capacity framework to explore the needs of operating CROs. This framework includes four core capacity areas: (1) technical, (2) management, (3) leadership, and (4) adaptive capacity. An analysis reveals that the greatest organizational needs are related to technical and management capacities. Implications are discussed in terms of strategies and activities that CRO leaders and mental health professionals and administrators can use to strengthen the organizational capacity of CROs in their community.

Making it Sane: Using Narrative to Explore Theory in a Mental Health Consumer-Run Organization

My previous research led to the development of a theoretical model explaining the processes by which people can benefit from consumer-run organizations (CROs). This study builds on that work by exploring the ability of the conceptual framework to capture the complexity of seven diverse life history narratives from participants at one CRO. To construct life history narratives, I used data from participant observation and a series of in-depth, minimally structured interviews. Application of the proposed conceptual framework to the narratives provides a consistent structure that organizes the experiences of informants into meaningful components. This application of the framework to the data also enables an exploration of the frameworks ability to account for the lives of all informants. This analysis leads to conclusions on the conceptual frameworks ability to explain how people benefit from CROs.