TY - JOUR
T1 - Gender, coping strategies, homelessness stressors, and income generation among homeless young adults in three cities
AU - Ferguson, Kristin M.
AU - Bender, Kimberly
AU - Thompson, Sanna J.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding for this study was provided in Los Angeles by the University of Southern California (USC), School of Social Work Hamovitch Research Center ; in Denver by the University of Denver, Graduate School of Social Work ; and in Austin by a Faculty Development Grant from the University of Texas at Austin and the Center for Social Work Research . We would like to acknowledge Connie Chung from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University, Kimberly Biddle and Jina Sang from the USC School of Social Work, Jamie Yoder and Chelsea Komlo from the University of Denver, and Tiffany Ryan, Katherine Montgomery, and Angie Lippman from the University of Texas at Austin for their involvement in the study as research assistants.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2015/6/1
Y1 - 2015/6/1
N2 - This study examined gender differences among homeless young adults' coping strategies and homelessness stressors as they relate to legal (e.g., full-time employment, selling personal possessions, selling blood/plasma) and illegal economic activity (e.g., selling drugs, theft, prostitution). A sample of 601 homeless young adults was recruited from 3 cities (Los Angeles, CA [. n=200], Austin, TX [. n=200], and Denver, CO [. n=201]) to participate in semi-structured interviews from March 2010 to July 2011. Risk and resilience correlates of legal and illegal economic activity were analyzed using six Ordinary Least Squares regression models with the full sample and with the female and male sub-samples. In the full sample, three variables (i.e., avoidant coping, problem-focused coping, and mania) were associated with legal income generation whereas eight variables (i.e., social coping, age, arrest history, transience, peer substance use, antisocial personality disorder [ASPD], substance use disorder [SUD], and major depressive episode [MDE]) were associated with illegal economic activity. In the female sub-sample, three variables (i.e., problem-focused coping, race/. ethnicity, and transience) were correlated with legal income generation whereas six variables (i.e., problem-focused coping, social coping, age, arrest history, peer substance use, and ASPD) were correlated with illegal economic activity. Among males, the model depicting legal income generation was not significant yet seven variables (i.e., social coping, age, transience, peer substance use, ASPD, SUD, and MDE) were associated with illegal economic activity. Understanding gender differences in coping strategies and economic activity might help customize interventions aimed at safe and legal income generation for this population.
AB - This study examined gender differences among homeless young adults' coping strategies and homelessness stressors as they relate to legal (e.g., full-time employment, selling personal possessions, selling blood/plasma) and illegal economic activity (e.g., selling drugs, theft, prostitution). A sample of 601 homeless young adults was recruited from 3 cities (Los Angeles, CA [. n=200], Austin, TX [. n=200], and Denver, CO [. n=201]) to participate in semi-structured interviews from March 2010 to July 2011. Risk and resilience correlates of legal and illegal economic activity were analyzed using six Ordinary Least Squares regression models with the full sample and with the female and male sub-samples. In the full sample, three variables (i.e., avoidant coping, problem-focused coping, and mania) were associated with legal income generation whereas eight variables (i.e., social coping, age, arrest history, transience, peer substance use, antisocial personality disorder [ASPD], substance use disorder [SUD], and major depressive episode [MDE]) were associated with illegal economic activity. In the female sub-sample, three variables (i.e., problem-focused coping, race/. ethnicity, and transience) were correlated with legal income generation whereas six variables (i.e., problem-focused coping, social coping, age, arrest history, peer substance use, and ASPD) were correlated with illegal economic activity. Among males, the model depicting legal income generation was not significant yet seven variables (i.e., social coping, age, transience, peer substance use, ASPD, SUD, and MDE) were associated with illegal economic activity. Understanding gender differences in coping strategies and economic activity might help customize interventions aimed at safe and legal income generation for this population.
KW - Coping
KW - Employment
KW - Gender
KW - Homeless young adults
KW - Income generation
KW - Mental health
KW - Survival behavior
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U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.04.028
DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.04.028
M3 - Article
C2 - 25942470
AN - SCOPUS:84928720327
SN - 0277-9536
VL - 135
SP - 47
EP - 55
JO - Social Science and Medicine
JF - Social Science and Medicine
ER -