Familial and "on-the-street" risk factors associated with alcohol use among homeless and runaway adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated factors associated with alcohol use among homeless and runaway adolescents, using a risk-amplification model.


METHODS
Homeless and runaway adolescents (N = 536, 60% female) were recruited and interviewed by outreach workers directly on the streets, in shelters and in drop-in centers in four Midwestern states. The average age was 16 years; ages ranged from 12 to 22.


RESULTS
Parent alcohol problems were indirectly linked to adolescent drinking through familial abuse and its relationship to deviant peers, time on own and risky subsistence behaviors. Parent alcohol problems also predicted offspring alcohol use through parental rejection and its association with deviant peers and with risky subsistence behaviors. The strongest direct effects on alcohol use were hanging out with antisocial friends and participating in deviant behaviors in order to survive on the street.


CONCLUSIONS
This study sheds light on the nature of alcohol use in a high-risk population. Family background and "on-the-street" (time on own) factors must be taken into consideration when treating alcohol misuse in street youth. The alternative is a vicious cycle whereby homeless youth may become homeless adults.
McMorris
Barbara J
BJ
Social Development Research Group, University of Washington, Seattle 98115-2024, USA. mcmorris@u.washington.edu
Tyler
Kimberly A
KA
Whitbeck
Les B
LB
Hoyt
Dan R
DR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D018453:Homeless Youth / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors