Mental disorder, subsistence strategies, and victimization among gay, lesbian, and bisexual homeless and runaway adolescents.
This study compares participation in deviant subsistence strategies, street victimization, and lifetime prevalence of five mental disorders (conduct disorder, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse) among heterosexual males and females (n = 366) and gay, lesbian, and bisexual (n = 63) homeless and runaway adolescents from the first wave of a longitudinal study of homeless youth in four Midwestern states. The results indicate that gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents were more likely to have been physically and sexually abused by caretakers, we more likely to engage in risky survival strategies when on their own (including survival sex), were more likely to be physically and sexually victimized when on the streets, and were more likely to meet criteria for mental disorder than were their heterosexual counterparts.
Whitbeck
Les B
LB
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Department of Sociology, 730 Oldfather Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0324, USA. lwhitbeck2@unl.edu
Chen
Xiaojin
X
Hoyt
Dan R
DR
Tyler
Kimberly A
KA
Johnson
Kurt D
KD
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D018453:Homeless Youth / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015146:Midwestern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D010379:Peer Group; D015995:Prevalence; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012419:Runaway Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires