Homeless and matched housed adolescents: A comparative study of psychopathology

Abstract

Compared a probability sample of 118 homeless adolescents (ages 12-17) from 6 shelters from throughout the 7-county Detroit metropolitan area to a matched sample of 118 housed adolescents using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC), which yields diagnoses based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; DSM-III-R; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) criteria, and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Adolescents in the housed comparison group were matched on age, sex, race, and neighborhood characteristics. Analyses, including ones controlling for a set of 10 risk and resilience factors, indicated that the homeless showed more disruptive behavior disorders and alcohol abuse or dependence on the DISC and greater levels of symptomatology on the BSI. There were no significant group differences on drug abuse or affective disorders, and psychotic disorders were rare in both groups. This pattern of findings is not entirely consistent with popular stereotypes about homeless youth nor with many existing studies (which have often failed to include an appropriate comparison group).