Leadership and team effectiveness in community coalitions for the prevention of alcohol and other drug abuse

Comprehensive community coalitions or partnerships are increasinglybeing developed in this country to coordinate and expand alcoholand other drug (AOD) abuse prevention services. While case studyevidence suggests that some coalitions are effective, thereis very little theory development or empirical research on factorscontributing to successful coalitions. This paper presents atheoretical model of coalition team effectiveness hypothesizingthat an empowering style of leadership increases member satisfactionand perceptions of team efficacy which ultimately increasesteam effectiveness. This theoretical model was pilot testedin an exploratory study using preliminary, small sample data(N = 65) from the first year evaluation of an AOD preventioncoalition. The exploratory research strategy employed factoranalysis and multiple regression analysis to test the relationshipof coalition members' process data (i.e. perceptions of teamleader's style, team efficacy and member satisfaction) to outcomedata (i.e. team members' AOD knowledge and use and team effectivenessin developing fundable plans). The results supported the proposedmodel and suggest that further model testing employing largersamples, more diverse community teams, and more sophisticateddata analyses (structural equation modeling or path analysis)could lead to information useful in training team leaders anddeveloping more effective coalitions.