Original articlePredictors of Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Newly Homeless Youth: A Longitudinal Study
Section snippets
Participants
The homeless youth sample in this paper includes the entire cohort of youth from a longitudinal study that examines youths’ pathways into and out of chronic homelessness in Los Angeles County, California (N = 261). To be included in the longitudinal study, youth had to meet the following criteria: (1) age ranging from 12–20 years, and (2) spent more than 1 night away from home without the parent’s or guardian’s permission if under 17 or had been told to leave; (3) had been away from home for 6
Results
Our homeless youth sample included 29.9% African Americans, 32.9% U.S.-born Latinos, 14.6% foreign-born Latinos, 22.6% Caucasian/Asian/Pacific Islander/American Indian/Alaskan Native youth and 59.8% were female (only 1.0% self-identified as lesbian/bisexual), 32.9% of males self-identified as heterosexual and 7.3% as gay/bisexual (Table 1). The mean age was 15.5 years (SD = 1.9). At the baseline assessment, 78.1% were living in an institution such as a shelter, 10% with family, and 11.9% in
Discussion
The study findings on the association between living situation and having multiple sexual partners and condom use, confirmed our hypotheses, in part. Living in a nonfamily setting, compared to living with family or in an institutional setting, was found to be associated with having multiple sexual partners, among males only. Also, living in a nonfamily setting was found to decrease the odds of always using condoms, among females only. These findings illustrate the importance of addressing
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by Grants R01 MH61185 from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Dr. Solorio is an R.W.J. Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar. M. Rosa Solorio was lead, and participated in study design, data analysis and interpretation, and writing of the manuscript. Doreen Rosenthal participated in study design, data analysis and interpretation, and writing of the manuscript. Norweeta G. Milburn participated in study design, data analysis
References (28)
- et al.
HIV-risk behaviors associated with homelessness characteristics in youth
J Adolesc Health
(1999) - et al.
Conduct disorder and HIV risk behaviors among runaway and homeless adolescents
Drug Alcohol Depend
(1997) - et al.
Newly homeless youth typically return home
J Adolesc Health
(2007) - et al.
Predictors of close family relationships over one year among homeless young people
J Adolesc
(2005) - et al.
Stressors, resources, and distress among homeless persons: a longitudinal analysis
Soc Sci Med
(2001) - et al.
Examining the relationships between adolescent sexual risk-taking and perceptions of monitoring, communication, and parenting styles
J Adolesc Health
(2003) - et al.
Developmental relationships between adolescent substance use and risky sexual behavior in young adulthood
J Adolesc Health
(2002) - et al.
Substance use and abuse among older youth in foster care
Addict Behav
(2007) - et al.
The prevalence of homelessness among adolescents in the United States
Am J Public Health
(1998) - et al.
Substance abuse disorders among runaway and homeless youth
Subst Use Misuse
(1997)
Runaway and homeless youths
Prevalence and predictors of sexual risks among homeless youth
J Youth Adolesc
Prevalence of sexual risk behavior and substance use among runaway and homeless adolescents in San Francisco, Denver and New York City
Int J STD AIDS
Cross-national variations in behavioral profiles among homeless youth
Am J Community Psychol
Cited by (65)
Modeling the dynamism of HIV information diffusion in multiplex networks of homeless youth
2020, Social NetworksCitation Excerpt :This disparity can best be explained by differences in behavior and circumstances. Relative to stably housed youth, homeless youth are more likely to engage in behaviors that put them at increased HIV risk, such as condomless sex (Solorio et al., 2008), partner concurrency (Halcón and Lifson, 2004), survival sex (Tyler, 2009), and substance use (Kipke et al., 1997), and are more likely to experience correlates of these behaviors like childhood maltreatment and sexual victimization (Melander and Tyler, 2010). The idea that peers (or peer networks) play a critical role in these risk behaviors is well established (Ennett et al., 1999; Rice et al., 2012a,b; Rice et al., 2007) and has informed purposeful efforts to (re)-appropriate the influence of peers toward increasing HIV prevention engagement among homeless youth (Arnold and Rotheram-Borus, 2009; Kennedy et al., 2016; Rice et al., 2012a,b).
Optimizing follow-up and study retention in the 21st century: Advances from the front line in alcohol and tobacco research
2017, Drug and Alcohol DependenceCitation Excerpt :Research has also shown that non-responsive participants tend to have more psychiatric comorbidities or substance abuse issues than responsive participants (de Graaf et al., 2000; McCabe and West, 2016). Unfortunately, it is often difficult to forecast at the outset of longitudinal research which participants will be difficult to track over time and ruling out such persons might compromise the integrity of recruitment (Kipke et al., 1997; Plane and Jurjevich, 2009; Solorio et al., 2008). Thus, modification of a follow-up protocol for challenging participants can provide necessary flexibility (Kilsdonk et al., 2015).
The Association Between Familial Homelessness, Aggression, and Victimization Among Children
2016, Journal of Adolescent HealthCitation Excerpt :Future research should aim to collect even larger samples to assess whether this relationship truly exists. Past studies have assessed behavior among the newly homeless or chronically homeless [29,30]; however, this expands our knowledge by assessing multiple periods of unstable housing and the negative effects on children's behavior. It is important to note that the relationship among familial homelessness, victimization, and aggression is complex and there are likely several mediating variables, like exposure to violence and increased stress and assertiveness, which further explain this relationship.
Correlates of Past Childhood Homelessness in a Nationally Representative Sample of US Adults
2024, Journal of Nervous and Mental DiseaseSocial Norms of Pregnancy and Pregnancy Attitudes Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness
2023, Youth and Society