EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

The prevalence of homelessness among adolescents in the United States

C.L. Ringwalt, J.M. Greene, M. Robertson and M. McPheeters

American Journal of Public Health, 1998, vol. 88, issue 9, 1325-1329

Abstract: Objectives. Homeless adolescents represent one of the nation's most vulnerable populations. This study reports the 12-month prevalence of homeless episodes among US adolescents. Methods. Personal, audiotaped interviews were conducted in 1992 and 1993 with a representative household sample of 6496 adolescents aged 12 to 17 as part of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respondents reported whether they had spent the night in any of a variety of locations other than home during the previous 12 months. Results. Altogether, 7.6% of the youths questioned reported that they had spent at least 1 night in a youth or adult shelter (3.3%), a public place (2.2%), an abandoned building (1.0%), outside (2.2%), underground (0.4%), or with a stranger (1.1%). Boys were much more likely than girls to report having experienced a homeless episode. Conclusions. This study suggests that homelessness among adolescents is not simply an urban problem and that prevention programs targeting homeless youths should be implemented nationwide. Additional research is needed to assess the frequency and duration of homeless experiences. Future studies of homelessness in the general population should include questions pertinent to adolescents.

Date: 1998
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

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:1998:88:9:1325-1329_3

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 ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-19
Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1998:88:9:1325-1329_3