title: Relationships of sexual abuse, connectedness, and loneliness to perceived well-being in homeless youth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe respondents' perceptions of connectedness, loneliness, and well-being; and to explore relationships among these variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey data from 96 participants, focus group interviews with 32 participants, and 10 individual interviews were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty percent of the sample reported sexual abuse, which was significantly related to loneliness and inversely related to connectedness and perceived well-being. Subjects felt lonely and disconnected. They perceived their well-being in terms of current health status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High rates of sexual abuse, lack of connectedness, and loneliness may help to explain poor perceived well-being in homeless youth.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, USA. ellerew@mail.utexas.edu
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rew
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006293:Health Promotion; D006304:Health Status; D018453:Homeless Youth; D006801:Humans; D008132:Loneliness; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012934:Social Isolation