Curtin School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; Mental Health Commission, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Curtin School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom; Department of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Child Abuse Negl. 2024 Mar;149:106643. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106643. Epub 2024 Jan 22.
Researchers have examined sub-groups that may exist among young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OHC) using various theoretical models. However, this population group has not been examined for trajectories of homelessness risk.
To examine whether different subtypes of homelessness risk exist among young people transitioning from care and whether these trajectories of homelessness are associated with mental health and substance use disorders.
A retrospective population-based cohort study was conducted from a population of 1018 young people (aged 15-18 years) who transitioned from out-of-home in 2013 to 2014 in the state of Victoria, Australia, with follow-up to 2018.
Latent Class Growth Analysis was conducted using linked data from homelessness data collections, child protection, mental health information systems, alcohol and drug use, and youth justice information systems.
Three sub-groups of young people were identified. The 'moving on' group (88 %) had the lowest levels of homelessness, with the slope of this trajectory remaining almost stable. The 'survivors' (7 %) group started off with a high risk of homelessness, followed by a sharp decrease in homelessness risk over time. The 'complex' (5 %) group started off with a low risk of homelessness but faced sharp increases in the risk of homelessness over time.
Our study demonstrates that subgroups of young people transitioning from care exist with distinct longitudinal trajectories of homelessness, and these classes are associated with different risk factors. Early intervention and different approaches to tackling homelessness should be considered for these three distinct groups before transitioning from care and during the first few years after leaving care.
研究人员使用各种理论模型研究了从家庭外照料（OHC）过渡的年轻人中可能存在的亚组。然而，尚未针对无家可归风险的轨迹对这群人进行研究。
检验从照料中过渡的年轻人中是否存在不同类型的无家可归风险，以及这些无家可归风险轨迹是否与心理健康和物质使用障碍相关。
这是一项回顾性基于人群的队列研究，研究对象为 2013 年至 2014 年期间从澳大利亚维多利亚州的家庭外照料过渡的 1018 名年轻人（年龄在 15-18 岁之间），随访至 2018 年。
使用来自无家可归者数据收集、儿童保护、心理健康信息系统、酒精和药物使用以及青年司法信息系统的关联数据，进行潜在类别增长分析。
确定了三组年轻人。“继续前进”组（88%）的无家可归风险最低，其轨迹斜率几乎保持稳定。“幸存者”组（7%）开始时无家可归的风险很高，随后风险急剧下降。“复杂”组（5%）开始时无家可归的风险较低，但随着时间的推移，无家可归的风险急剧上升。
我们的研究表明，从照料中过渡的年轻人存在亚组，其无家可归的轨迹具有明显的纵向特征，这些类别与不同的风险因素相关。在从照料过渡之前和离开照料后的头几年，应该为这三个不同群体考虑早期干预和解决无家可归问题的不同方法。
