The Cognitive Empowerment Scale: Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis Among Youth of Color
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The Cognitive Empowerment Scale: Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis Among Youth of Color David T. Lardier Jr.1,2 · Ijeoma Opara3 · Pauline Garcia‑Reid4 · Robert J. Reid4
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Empowerment is a higher order multilevel framework used to evaluate individuals, groups, organizations, and communities as they engage in the practice and execution of the participatory process. The cognitive component of psychological empowerment (PE) has been examined through the Cognitive Empowerment Scale (CES); however, this scale has yet to be specifically tested to assess differences between African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx urban youth. This study tested the factor structure of the CES using Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) through AMOS Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) Software among a sample of African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx urban youth (N =383). Analyses also assessed the association intrapersonal PE and psychological sense of community (SOC) had with CE. Results support the multidimensionality of the CES as a measure of cognitive PE, with no significant differences noted between groups. Findings also contribute to the field of social work and encourage the promotion of youth-work that enables these young people to foster a critical read of their social world in order to build a path toward engaging in social change. Keywords Empowerment · cognitive empowerment · Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis · Youth of color Youth movements over the last decade have highlighted that young people are not passive recipients of change, but are active agents of change that contest, resist, and rework social conditions (Christens, Byrd, Peterson, & Lardier, 2018; Ginwright, 2015; Kirshner, 2015). More poignantly, youth of color are actively engaged in significant social movements throughout the United States, whether we consider the #BlackLivesMatter movement or DREAM teams. These radical socio-political projects provide evidence that youth are willing to work toward change that impacts their well-being, health, and status as a citizen. Moreover, youth * David T. Lardier Jr. [email protected]; [email protected] 1
Department of Individual, Family, and Community Education, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
2
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
3
School of Social Welfare, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
4
Department of Family Science and Human Development, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA
of color are willing to challenge power, reject the existing order, and join collectively to redirect social conditions, policies, and beliefs (Kwon, 2013). While more recently drawing a critical eye to youth, and specifically youth of color, research has glanced over the empowerment of these young people (Christens et al., 2018; Kwon, 2013; Lardier Jr., 2019). Furt
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