Citation

Cutuli JJ, Treglia D, Herbers JE. Child Psychiatry Hum. Dev. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10578-019-00909-1

PMID

31270658

Abstract

This study utilizes data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey to estimate the prevalence of adolescent homelessness and relations to five indicators of poor functioning among students attending public high school in eight states. About 3.27% of students experienced homelessness, and nearly 7% of teens who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) experienced homelessness. Homelessness was related to higher rates of sexual/dating violence as well as having been bullied and feeling unsafe at school. Homelessness and LGB identification predicted higher rates of more-severe problems with alcohol, hard drug use, poor grades, suicidality, and risky sexual behavior, controlling for other factors. There was no interaction effect between homelessness and LGB status, suggesting that these risks are additive.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescent and youth homelessness; Alcohol problem; Sexual minority; Substance use; Suicidality