N. Andrew Peterson

N. Andrew Peterson, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Professor with the School of Social Work at Rutgers University. He earned his Ph.D. in Community Psychology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His research examines the mechanisms through which community organizations promote empowerment and community change. His work also focuses on preventing community-level problems (e.g., tobacco outlet density, alcohol outlet density, density of vacant and abandoned housing, etc.) that contribute to social and health disparities. He currently serves as Principal Investigator of a study funded by the New Jersey Division of Mental Health & Addiction Services to evaluate the implementation of a new statewide prevention infrastructure that identifies communities based on epidemiological analyses and implements evidence-based and culturally-competent prevention strategies.

• Advanced Statistics
• Structural Equation Modeling
• Research Methods
• Community Organizing

Peterson, N.A., Lardier, D.T., Powell, K.G., Mankopf, E., Rashid, M., Morton, C. & Borys, S. (2021). Psychometric properties of a recovery empowerment scale: Testing emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and relational domains. Journal of Community Psychology, 1-18. Advance online publication.

Peterson, N.A., Powell, K.G. Treitler, P., Litterer, D., Borys, S. & Hallcom, D. (2019). The strategic prevention framework in community-based coalitions: Internal processes and associated changes in policies affecting adolescent substance abuse. Children and Youth Services Review, 101, 352-362.

Peterson, N.A., Speer, P.W., Peterson, C.H. Powell, K.G., Treitler, P & Wang, Y. (2017). Importance of auxiliary theories in research on university-community partnerships: The example of psychological sense of community. Collaborations: A Journal of Community-Based Research and Practice, 1, 1-34.

McMahon, S., Peterson, N.A., Postmus, J.L., Winter, S.C., Palmer, J.E. & Koenick, R.A. (2015). Predicting bystander behavior to prevent sexual assault on college campuses: The role of self-efficacy and intent. American Journal of Community Psychology, 56, 46-56.

Peterson, N.A., Farmer, A.Y. & Zippay, A. (2014). The implicit curriculum in an urban university setting: Pathways to students’ empowerment. Journal of Social Work Education, 50, 630-647.

Powell, K.G. Peterson, N.A. (2014). Pathways to effectiveness in substance abuse prevention: Empowering organizational characteristics of community-based coalitions. Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership, & Governance, 38, 471-486.

Peterson, N.A. (2014). Empowerment theory: Clarifying the nature of higher-order multidimensional constructs. American Journal of Community Psychology, 53, 96-108.

Morton, C.M., Simmel, C. & Peterson, N.A. (2014). Alcohol outlet density and rates of child abuse and neglect: Moderating effects of access to substance abuse services. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38, 952-961.

Cheryomukhin, A. & Peterson, N.A. (2014). Measuring relational and intrapersonal empowerment: Testing instrument validity in a former Soviet country with a secular Muslim culture. American Journal of Community Psychology, 53, 382-393.

Schneider, J.E., Peterson, N.A., Kiss, N., Ebeid, O. & Doyle A. (2011). Tobacco litter costs and public policy: A framework and methodology for considering the use of fees to offset abatement costs. Tobacco Control, 20 (Suppl 1), i36-i41.

Gutierrez, M.A., Franco, L.M., Powell, K.G., Peterson, N.A. & Reid, R.J. (2009). Psychometric properties of the acculturation rating scale for Mexican Americans-II: Exploring dimensions of marginality among a diverse Latino population. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 31, 340-356.

Peterson, N.A., Speer, P.W. & McMillan, D. (2008). Validation of a brief sense of community scale: Confirmation of the principal theory of sense of community. Journal of Community Psychology, 36, 61-73.