Brian D. Christens
- Media Contact
- SPN Mentor
Brian Christens studies organizations’ efforts to change inequitable systems and benefit their communities. His research provides insights into the mechanisms linking civic participation to individual and community well-being, and into how different organizational approaches to civic action can lead to different outcomes. He is especially interested in young people’s involvement and leadership in efforts to change systems, and the ways that these experiences relate to other aspects of human development throughout the lifespan. His book Community Power and Empowerment (available January 2019, Oxford University Press) takes stock of research on these topics to date and provides organizations, community leaders, and scholars with frameworks for advances in this multidisciplinary field.
Primary Interests:
- Applied Social Psychology
- Group Processes
- Health Psychology
- Interpersonal Processes
- Organizational Behavior
- Persuasion, Social Influence
- Political Psychology
- Research Methods, Assessment
- Social Cognition
- Sociology, Social Networks
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Books:
Journal Articles:
- Christens, B. D. (2013). In search of powerful empowerment. Health Education Research, 28(3), 371-374.
- Christens, B. D. (2012). Targeting empowerment in community development: A community psychology approach to enhancing local power and well-being. Community Development Journal, 47(4), 538-554.
- Christens, B. D. (2012). Toward relational empowerment. American Journal of Community Psychology, 50(1-2), 114-128.
- Christens, B. D. (2010). Public relationship building in grassroots community organizing: Relational intervention for individual and systems change. Journal of Community Psychology, 38(7), 886-900.
- Christens, B. D., & Collura, J. J. (2012). Local community organizers and activists encountering globalization: An exploratory study of their perceptions and adaptations. Journal of Social Issues, 68(3), 592-611.
- Christens, B. D., Collura, J. J., & Tahir, F. (2013). Critical hopefulness: A person-centered analysis of the intersection of cognitive and emotional empowerment. American Journal of Community Psychology, 52(1-2), 170-184.
- Christens, B. D., & Dolan, T. (2011). Interweaving youth development, community development, and social change through youth organizing. Youth & Society, 43(2), 526-546.
- Christens, B. D., & Kirshner, B. (2011). Taking stock of youth organizing: An interdisciplinary perspective. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 134, 27-41.
- Christens, B. D., & Perkins, D. D. (2008). Transdisciplinary, multilevel, participatory action research to enhance ecological and psychopolitical validity. Journal of Community Psychology, 36(2), 214-231.
- Christens, B. D., & Peterson, N. A. (2012). The role of empowerment in youth development: A study of sociopolitical control as mediator of ecological systems’ influence on developmental outcomes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(5), 623-635.
- Christens, B. D., Peterson, N. A., Reid, R. J., & Garcia-Reid, P. (in press). Adolescents’ perceived control in the sociopolitical domain: A latent class analysis. Youth & Society. doi:10.1177/0044118X12467656
- Christens, B. D., Peterson, N. A., & Speer, P. W. (2011). Community participation and psychological empowerment: Testing reciprocal causality using a cross-lagged panel design and latent constructs. Health Education & Behavior, 38(4), 339-347.
- Christens, B. D., & Speer, P. W. (2011). Contextual influences on participation in community organizing: A multilevel longitudinal study. American Journal of Community Psychology, 47(3-4), 253-263.
- Christens, B. D., Speer, P. W., & Peterson, N. A. (2011). Social class as moderator of the relationship between (dis)empowering processes and psychological empowerment. Journal of Community Psychology, 39(2), 170-182.
- Flanagan, C. A., & Christens, B. D. (2011). Youth civic development: Historical context and emerging issues. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 134, 1-9.
- Peterson, N. A., Peterson, C. H., Agre, L., Christens, B. D., & Morton, C. M. (2011). Measuring youth empowerment: Validation of a sociopolitical control scale for youth in an urban community context. Journal of Community Psychology, 39(5), 592-605.
- Speer, P. W., & Christens, B. D. (2013). An approach to scholarly impact through strategic engagement in community-based research. Journal of Social Issues, 69(4), 734-753.
- Speer, P. W., & Christens, B. D. (2012). Local community organizing and change: Altering policy in the housing and community development system in Kansas City. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 22(5), 414-427.
- Zeldin, S., Christens, B. D., & Powers. J. L. (2013). The psychology and practice of youth-adult partnership: Bridging generations for youth development and community change. American Journal of Community Psychology, 51(3-4), 385-397.
Brian D. Christens
Box 90, GPC
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee 37203
United States of America
