Stress About Eviction or Loss of Housing and Child Mental Health.

IMPORTANCE

Eviction and housing loss are pressing public health concerns. Understanding how caregivers' stress about eviction or loss of housing is associated with specific childhood psychiatric issues across development is important.

OBJECTIVE

To examine associations between stress about eviction or loss of housing and caregiver-reported child depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and behavioral problems, while adjusting for sociodemographic factors.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study analyzed data from the 2022 National Survey of Children's Health, a nationally representative survey of caregivers and children in the US. Data were collected between July 2022 and January 2023.

EXPOSURE

Eviction or loss of housing.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Caregiver-reported child depression, anxiety, ADHD, and behavioral problems. Generalized linear mixed models were used to test associations with stress about eviction or loss of housing.

RESULTS

From a sample of 54 103 families, 36 638 were included in the analytic sample (analytic sample mean [SD] age: 9.91 [4.62] years; sex assigned at birth, 18 901 male [52%]). In this study, stress about eviction or loss of housing was associated with depression in children (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.10; 95% CI, 1.02-1.18). Stress about eviction or loss of housing was significantly associated with higher odds of reported anxiety in the base model (aOR, 1.26 (95% CI, 1.22-1.31) but not in the stringently adjusted model (aOR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.00-1.08]). Associations were sometimes moderated by age, with stronger associations for younger children. Stress about eviction or loss of housing was not associated with ADHD or behavioral problems after adjustment.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

This study found that stress about eviction or loss of housing was associated with increased odds of internalizing issues, such as depression and anxiety, among children. Prospective longitudinal research is still needed to fully understand these complex associations over time. These findings underscore the importance of policies and interventions to address housing instability and its mental health consequences for children.