Abstract
Home-leaving is considered an important marker of the transition to adulthood and is usually framed as an individual decision. We move beyond this limited assumption to examine a broader conceptualization that might better illuminate home-leaving among youth in impoverished circumstances. We adopt the Problem Behavior Theory-framework to investigate the association of home-leaving with behavioral and psychosocial variables and with other transitions. We use data on adolescents aged 14–22 years from a three-wave study conducted between 2007 and 2010. We used variable- and person-centered cross-sectional analyses, as well as predictive analysis of home-leaving by subsequent waves. Parental controls protection predicted home-leaving by subsequent waves. Overall, protective factors moderated the association of problem behavior involvement with leaving home in Nairobi’s slums.
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Egondi, T., Kabiru, C., Beguy, D., Muindi, K., & Jessor, R. (2013). Adolescent home-leaving and the transition to adulthood: A psychosocial and behavioural study in the slums of Nairobi. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 37(4), 298-308.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr. Chi-Chi Undie for her valuable contribution in the initial conceptualization of the paper. We are grateful to the colleagues at APHRC who worked on the project and to the youth in the study communities for participating in this study.
Funding
This work uses data from the Transitions To Adulthood study, which was part of the Urbanization, Poverty and Health Dynamics project funded by the Wellcome Trust (Grant Number 078530/Z/05/Z) from 2006 to 2010. Analysis and writing of the manuscript was supported by the general support grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Grant Number 2009-4051) and the Rockefeller Foundation (Grant Number 2009 SCG 302).
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Appendix
Appendix
The list of items forming different psychosocial domains
Parental controls protection
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How much would you say your parents/guardians really know about the following things about you?
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Where you spend time in the evenings on weekdays
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Who you spend time with in the evenings on weekdays
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Where you spend time on weekends
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Who you spend time with on weekends
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What you do during your free time
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How you spend your money
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Whether you have or do homework
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What TV programs, videos, or films you watch
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Who your friends are
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How often does your [PARENT(S)/GUARDIAN(S)] scold or reprimand you when you do something wrong? For example, if you come home late, don’t do your chores, watch too much TV
Personal controls protection
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How important is it to you [READ STATEMENT]?
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To be able to rely on religious teachings when you have a problem?
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To believe in God?
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To rely on your religious beliefs as a guide for day-to-day living?
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To be able to turn to prayer when you’re facing a personal problem?
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Young women should remain virgins until they marry [response categories: agree, disagree, don’t know]
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Young men should remain virgins until they marry [response categories: agree, disagree, don’t know]
Friends controls protection
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If you are currently in school, how important is it to your friends that you do well in school? Would you say [Not too important, important, very important, not in school]?
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How do most of your friends feel about someone your age drinking alcohol? Would you say [They strongly disapprove, they disapprove, they approve, they strongly approve, don’t really care]?
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How do most of your friends feel about someone your age using marijuana or other drugs? Would you say [They strongly disapprove, they disapprove, they approve, they strongly approve, don’t really care]?
Parental support protection
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How often does your [FATHER/FATHER FIGURE] teach you things you didn’t know?
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How often do you share your secrets and private feelings with your [FATHER/FATHER FIGURE]?
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How often does your [FATHER/FATHER FIGURE] try to help you when you need something?
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How often does your [MOTHER/MOTHER FIGURE] teach you things you didn’t know?
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How often do you share your secrets and private feelings with your [MOTHER/MOTHER FIGURE]?
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How often does your [MOTHER/MOTHER FIGURE] try to help you when you need something?
Pro-social behavior protection (Do you belong to a [GROUP]?)
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Religious group
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Drama group/Dance group/Choir
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Anti-AIDS club
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Anti-drugs club
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Girl guides/boy scouts
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Wildlife society
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Self-help group
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Other
Models Risk
Siblings
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Have any of your brothers or sisters ever had to drop out of school for any reason
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Have any of your brothers or sisters ever had premarital sex?
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Have any of your brothers or sisters ever smoked or do any currently smoke cigarettes?
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Have any of your brothers or sisters ever drunk or do any currently drink alcohol?
Peer models (pressure)
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How much peer pressure is there on people your age to have sex? Would you say [None, a little, a fair amount, a lot]?
Vulnerability Risk
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How well do you get along with others your age? Would you say very well, pretty well, not too well, or not well at all?
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How well do you live up to what other people expect of you? Would you say very well, pretty well, not too well, or not well at all?
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What about your ability to do well in school (even if you are not in school currently). Would you say you are very able, pretty able, not too able, or not at all able to do well in school?
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How attractive do you think you are? Would you say very attractive, fairly attractive, not too attractive, or not attractive at all?
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On the whole, how satisfied are you with yourself? Would you say very satisfied, pretty satisfied, not too satisfied, or not satisfied at all?
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How well do you resist peer pressure from the rest of the group? Would you say [Very well, pretty well, not too well, not well at all]?
Problem-Behavior Risk
Delinquency
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You stayed away from home for at least one night without your parent’s permission
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You started a fight with your peers
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You took or tried to take something that belonged to someone else, without their knowledge
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You carried a knife, gun, or other weapon
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You hit or threatened to hit a peer or adult
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You delivered or sold drugs (e.g., bhang, miraa, glue)
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You delivered or sold alcohol (e.g., chang’aa, busaa, beer)
Substance use
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Have you ever smoked a cigarette (not just a few puffs)?
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Have you smoked a cigarette in the past 4 months?
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During the past month, how many cigarettes have you smoked on an average day?
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Have you ever had a drink of beer, wine, chang’aa, kumi kumi, muratina, busaa, etc., more than two or three times in your life? Not just a sip or taste of someone else drink?
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During the past 4 months, how often did you drink alcohol?
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Over the past 4 months, how many times did you drink four or more drinks of beer, wine, chang’aa, kumi kumi, muratina or busaa at one time or on the same occasion?
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How often have you gotten drunk or very high from drinking alcohol in the last four months?
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During the past year, have you used [NAME ITEM] to get high? (pills, bhang, miraa, cocaine, petrol, glue, kuber, other)
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Egondi, T., Kabiru, C., Beguy, D., Muindi, K., Jessor, R. (2017). Problem Behavior Theory and the Transition to Adulthood in the Slums of Nairobi, Kenya. In: Problem Behavior Theory and the Social Context . Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57885-9_8
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