title: Correlates of substance use severity among homeless youth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  this cross-sectional study identified a number of factors that were correlated with drug-use severity among homeless youth.
  
  
  METHODS
  to examine a commonly used measure of substance-use severity, the TCU Drug Screen II, in a convenience sample of 156 homeless youth, ages 15-25 from a drop-in site in Santa Monica, California.
  
  
  RESULTS
  higher drug-use severity scores were independently related to low levels of perceived health and maladaptive coping strategies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the findings from this study are particularly relevant in that they support previous results showing that psychosocial variables are related to substance use behavior among young populations.
authors.affiliation: International Research & Scholarly Activities, UCLA, School of Nursing, Los Angeles, CA, USA. anyamath@sonnet.ucla.edu
authors.forename: Adeline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nyamathi
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Greengold
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Slagle
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marfisee
authors.forename: Farinaz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Khalilifard
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Leake
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult