Substance-use disorders and poverty as prospective predictors of first-time homelessness in the United States

R.G. Thompson , M.M. Wall, E. Greenstein, B.F. Grant and D.S. Hasin

American Journal of Public Health, 2013, vol. 103, issue S2, S282-S288

Abstract: Objectives. We examined whether substance-use disorders and poverty predicted first-time homelessness over 3 years. Methods. We analyzed longitudinal data from waves 1 (2001-2002) and 2 (2004-2005) of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions to determine the main and interactive effects of wave 1 substance use disorders and poverty on first-time homelessness by wave 2, among those who were never homeless at wave 1 (n = 30 558). First-time homelessness was defined as having no regular place to live or having to live with others for 1 month or more as a result of having no place of one's own since wave 1. Results. Alcohol-use disorders (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.34), drug-use disorders (AOR = 2.51), and poverty (AOR = 1.34) independently increased prospective risk for first-time homelessness, after adjustment for ecological variables. Substance-use disorders and poverty interacted to differentially influence risk for first-time homelessness (P

Keywords: addiction; adolescent; adult; alcoholism; article; female; health status; homelessness; human; longitudinal study; male; mental health; middle aged; poverty; risk factor; socioeconomics; statistics; United States; young adult; homelessness; poverty; statistics and numerical data; Substance-Related Disorders; United States, Adolescent; Adult; Alcoholism; Female; Health Status; Homeless Persons; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Poverty; Risk Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Substance-Related Disorders; United States; Young Adult, Adolescent; Adult; Alcoholism; Female; Health Status; Homeless Persons; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Poverty; Risk Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Substance-Related Disorders; United States; Young Adult (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301302

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2013.301302_9

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301302

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().