Becoming resilient: Community-driven change and the civic capacity index

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Community Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Successful community governance relies on collaboration.
• Existing methods to assess collaborative capacity are limited and not predictive of resilience.
• There is a need for a validated tool to measure community civic capacity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the conceptual framework and validation methods for the Civic Capacity Index (CCI).
• To assess the reliability and factor structure of the CCI.
• To determine if CCI scores predict community processes, public health, and resilience.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual development of the Civic Capacity Index (CCI).
• Validation using a large statewide sample and confirmatory factor analysis.
• Statistical analysis to assess reliability and predictive validity.

Main Results:

• The CCI scales demonstrated high internal reliabilities and fit a bifactor model.
• CCI scores were significantly associated with measures of trust, social cohesion, and connectedness.
• CCI scores predicted public health indicators and community resilience and well-being a year later.

Conclusions:

• The Civic Capacity Index (CCI) is a reliable and valid measure of community collaborative capacity.
• Community civic capacity is strongly linked to community resilience and well-being.
• Building civic capacity is a promising strategy for enhancing community resilience.