Goodman Michael L, Seidel Sarah, Springer Andrew, Markham Christine, Godoy Aaron, Raimer-Goodman Lauren, Munene Kelvin, Gitari Stanley
University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.
Sodzo International, Houston, TX, USA.
Int J Ment Health Addict. 2025 Feb;23(1):329-343. doi: 10.1007/s11469-023-01115-w. Epub 2023 Jul 19.
Substance use among street-involved children and youth (SICY) in low- and middle-income countries is common. Using data abstracted from program intake forms (2016-2022) for an intervention to reintegrate SICY with their communities, we assess which individual, family, and geographic characteristics are predictive of substance use, and specifically inhalant use and non-inhalant use among a sample of 227 SICY in Meru County, Kenya. Assessed determinants include age, geographic location of home community, years on street, family deprivation prior to street-migrating, motivation for street migrating, abuse experiences on the street, and activities on the street. Number of years lived on the street, experiencing abuse on the street, and citing peer-self relations as the reason for street migration were all associated with significantly higher odds of reporting substance use, and inhalant use specifically. Inhalant use was also significantly associated with peer socialization and specific street activities. Further research should explore the role of peer-self dynamics in substance use among SICY and how it can inform approaches to reintegrating children from street situations and sustaining their development in non-street environments.
在低收入和中等收入国家，街头流浪儿童和青少年（SICY）使用毒品的现象很常见。利用从项目 intake 表格（2016 - 2022 年）中提取的数据，该项目旨在让 SICY 重新融入其社区，我们评估了哪些个人、家庭和地理特征可预测毒品使用情况，特别是肯尼亚梅鲁县 227 名 SICY 样本中的吸入剂使用和非吸入剂使用情况。评估的决定因素包括年龄、家乡社区的地理位置、流浪街头的年限、街头流浪前的家庭贫困状况、街头流浪的动机、街头遭受的虐待经历以及街头活动。流浪街头的年限、在街头遭受虐待以及将同伴 - 自我关系作为街头流浪的原因，这些都与报告使用毒品尤其是吸入剂使用的几率显著更高相关。吸入剂使用还与同伴社交和特定的街头活动显著相关。进一步的研究应探讨同伴 - 自我动态在 SICY 毒品使用中的作用，以及它如何为使街头儿童重新融入社会并在非街头环境中维持其发展的方法提供信息。
