Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a Community Program Capacity Scale for a Rural American Indian Tribe

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is often preferred in partnerships between universities and American Indian tribes. Central to CBPR is a strong impetus for capacity building. Community capacity includes capabilities and infrastructures to provide a service(s).

An American Indian community advisory board developed and tested an 11-item community capacity scale. A total of 128 tribal members or those who lived on the reservation completed the survey. Exploratory factor analysis assessed the factor structure and Cronbach's alpha estimated internal consistency.

A one-factor model demonstrated adequate model fit (comparative fit index [CFI] = .92, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .06, standardized root mean square residual [SRMR] = .07), and items were internally consistent (alpha = .79).

Survey development with academic and tribal partners was iterative, with time spent on partnership and consensus building, resulting in a psychometrically sound and culturally relevant community program capacity scale.