Stressful life events among homeless people in León (Nicaragua): Quantity, types, timing, and perceived causality

Abstract

Nicaragua is one of Latin America's least developed countries and has a lack of data on homeless people, a stigmatized group living in extreme poverty. We conducted structured interviews with homeless people living in the city of León (Nicaragua; n = 41) to obtain data on the quantity, types, timing, and perceived causality of stressful life events (SLEs) experienced during their childhood and adolescence as well as throughout their adult lives. The findings showed that our participants had experienced a high number of extremely severe SLEs at very early ages and most of these SLEs occurred before they first became homeless. In terms of the perceived causal relationship between SLEs and homelessness, the interviewees mainly attributed being homeless to material, affective, or relationship factors, or an excessive consumption of alcohol and/or drugs. Suffering from multiple and serious SLEs, largely due to living in socioeconomically disadvantaged environments, appears to be an important vulnerability factor in both becoming homeless and chronic homelessness.