Reintroducing community health psychology: A journal-based analysis of the visibility and integration of...

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides a collaborative framework for addressing health inequities through equitable partnerships, community engagement, and culturally responsive methods. Although widely used in public health and community psychology, CBPR's visibility within the core publication outlets of health psychology remains unclear. This review, inspired by the 2004 Journal of Health Psychology special issue on Community Health Psychology, examines the extent to which CBPR is represented and integrated within the institutional core of health psychology journals over the past two decades. We systematically searched for CBPR-related terms in 10 health psychology journals (e.g., Applied Psychology: Health and Well-being, Journal of Health Psychology) between 2004 and 2024. From the empirical articles identified, we determined whether CBPR was mentioned, discussed, or substantively implemented. For studies using CBPR methods, we coded engagement with nine core elements (e.g., community involvement in design). Of the 14,084 articles published between 2004 and 2024, 28 empirical articles mentioned CBPR without elaboration (~0.2%), 16 discussed CBPR concepts without implementing participatory methods (~0.1%), and 30 incorporated CBPR methods (~0.2%). Among studies incorporating CBPR, engagement varied considerably: on average, studies included 2.67 CBPR elements (SD = 2.99), with scores ranging from 0 to 8; the largest subset (n = 10; 33.3%) addressed only one element. These findings indicate a marked disconnect between the field's stated commitments to equity and the visibility of participatory approaches within its primary publication infrastructure. We conclude by identifying structural and conceptual factors that may limit CBPR's integration and outlining directions for advancing participatory approaches within health psychology.