BACKGROUND Community coalitions are frequently used as partners for community-engaged research. However, limited research shows how these partnerships affect the coalitions. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of researcher-coalition collaboration on coalition function in the pilot year of a 4-year intervention program targeting childhood obesity in rural, low-income communities. METHODS A quasi-experimental study using a quantitative survey (Coalition Self-Assessment Survey [CSAS]) evaluated factors related to coalition function and efficacy. Twelve community coalitions from seven states completed survey evaluations at baseline (n = 133), and at the 1-year follow-up (n = 113). Pearson's χ2 and Mann-Whitney U tests were computed; significance was set at p < .05. RESULTS Survey results revealed significant changes for coalitions engaged in research partnership. Institutional engagement with community health coalitions in the first year of partnership was related to enhanced coalition function. CONCLUSIONS Coalitions with a greater degree of researcher collaboration may be more successful in addressing community health problems.

中文翻译：

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与研究人员合作的社区：以社区参与的研究方法对联盟功能的评估。

背景技术社区联盟经常被用作社区参与研究的合作伙伴。但是，有限的研究表明，这些伙伴关系如何影响联盟。目的在为期四年的针对农村低收入社区儿童肥胖症的干预计划的试点年中，评估研究人员-联盟合作对联盟功能的影响。方法使用定量调查（联盟自我评估调查[CSAS]）进行的准实验研究评估了与联盟功能和效能有关的因素。来自七个州的12个社区联盟在基线（n = 133）和1年随访（n = 113）时完成了调查评估。计算了Pearson的χ2和Mann-Whitney U检验；显着性设定为p <.05。结果调查结果表明，从事研究合作关系的联盟发生了重大变化。在合作伙伴关系的第一年中，与社区卫生联盟的机构合作与联盟功能的增强有关。结论与研究人员合作程度更高的联盟在解决社区健康问题上可能更为成功。