title: Maternal depression as a risk factor for family homelessness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We estimated the effects of maternal depression during the postpartum year, which is often an unexpected event, on subsequent homelessness and risk of homelessness in a national sample of urban, mostly low-income mothers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used logistic regression models to estimate associations between maternal depression during the postpartum year and both homelessness and risk of homelessness 2 to 3 years later, controlling for maternal and family history of depression, prenatal housing problems, and other covariates. Risk factors for homelessness included experiencing evictions or frequent moves and moving in with family or friends and not paying rent.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found robust associations between maternal depression during the postpartum year and subsequent homelessness and risk of homelessness, even among mothers who had no history of mental illness, whose own mothers did not have a history of depressive symptoms, and who had no previous housing problems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides robust evidence that maternal mental illness places families with young children at risk for homelessness, contributes to the scant literature elucidating directional and causal links between mental illness and homelessness, and contributes to a stagnant but important literature on family homelessness.
authors.affiliation: Marah A. Curtis is with the School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Hope Corman and Kelly Noonan are with the Department of Economics, Rider University, and the National Bureau of Economic Research, Lawrenceville, NJ. Nancy E. Reichman is with the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.
authors.forename: Marah A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.forename: Hope
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Corman
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Noonan
authors.forename: Nancy E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Reichman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors