Adverse childhood experiences: are they risk factors for adult homelessness?
OBJECTIVE
We tested the hypothesis that adverse childhood experiences are risk factors for adult homelessness.


METHODS
We interviewed a nationally representative sample of 92 US household members who had previously been homeless and a comparison group of 395 individuals with no prior homelessness. We assessed childhood adversity with a structured protocol that included a previously validated scale indicating lack of care from parents and single-item measures of physical and sexual abuse.


RESULTS
Lack of care from a parent during childhood sharply increased the likelihood of subsequent homelessness (odds ratio [OR] = 13), as did physical abuse (OR = 16). Sexual abuse during childhood was associated with a nonsignificant trend toward homelessness (OR = 1.7). The risk of subsequent homelessness among individuals who experienced both lack of care and either type of abuse was dramatically increased compared with subjects reporting neither of these adversities (OR = 26).


CONCLUSIONS
Adverse childhood experiences are powerful risk factors for adult homelessness. Effectively reducing child abuse and neglect may ultimately help prevent critical social problems including homelessness.
Herman
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New York State Psychiatric Institute, NY, USA.
Susser
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Struening
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Link
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002649:Child Abuse; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D015995:Prevalence; D011336:Probability; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States