Herbers Janette E, Cutuli J J, Keane Joanna N, Leonard Jake A
Villanova University.
Nemours Children's Health System.
Psychol Sch. 2020 Dec;57(12):1830-1844. doi: 10.1002/pits.22331. Epub 2019 Dec 19.
School districts and other service providers are increasingly aware of the substantial mental health needs of students experiencing family homelessness. Past findings are mixed regarding whether homelessness conveys unique risk beyond the risks associated with extreme poverty. With prospective longitudinal data on homelessness experiences across childhood, we utilized latent profile analysis as a person-centered approach to conceptualizing mental health outcomes in adolescence for 3,778 youth. We considered literal family homelessness as well as families living doubled-up, and we employed propensity score matching to identify a comparison group of non-homeless students balanced across a range of covariates to address systematic bias. Results indicated that students who experienced literal homelessness during childhood were significantly less likely to demonstrate profiles of resilience in mental health functioning. We considered our approach and findings in light of challenges and opportunities particularly relevant to the school context.
学区和其他服务提供商越来越意识到经历家庭无家可归的学生存在大量心理健康需求。关于无家可归是否除了与极端贫困相关的风险之外还带来独特风险，过去的研究结果不一。利用关于童年时期无家可归经历的前瞻性纵向数据，我们采用潜在类别分析作为一种以个体为中心的方法，对3778名青少年的心理健康结果进行概念化。我们考虑了实际的家庭无家可归情况以及合住家庭，并且使用倾向得分匹配来确定一个非无家可归学生的对照组，该对照组在一系列协变量上保持平衡，以解决系统偏差问题。结果表明，童年时期经历过实际无家可归的学生在心理健康功能方面表现出复原力特征的可能性显著降低。我们根据与学校环境特别相关的挑战和机遇来考虑我们的方法和研究结果。
