Perceived Racial, Sexual Identity, and Homeless Status-Related Discrimination Among Black Adolescents and Young Adults Experiencing Homelessness: Relations With Depressive Symptoms and Suicidality.

Perceived Racial, Sexual Identity, and Homeless Status-Related Discrimination Among Black Adolescents and Young Adults Experiencing Homelessness: Relations With Depressive Symptoms and Suicidality.
Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2015 Oct 12;
Authors: Gattis MN, Larson A
Abstract
There is a dearth of empirical evidence that addresses how racial minority, sexual minority, and homeless statuses, with their accompanying experiences of stigma and discrimination, are related to mental health in adolescent and young adult populations. The current study addresses this gap by examining the associations between multiple forms of discrimination, depressive symptoms, and suicidality in a sample of 89 Black adolescents and young adults (52% female; 47% nonheterosexual, ages 16-24) experiencing homelessness. Results from a series of ordinary least squares and logistic regressions suggested that perceived homelessness stigma and racial discrimination were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, controlling for gender, age, and other types of discrimination, while perceived sexual identity discrimination showed no association. Having ever spent a homeless night on the street, an indicator of homelessness severity, accounted for a substantial amount of the association between homelessness stigma and depressive symptoms. In contrast, suicidality was not significantly associated with any measure of discrimination, homelessness severity, or persona...

Source: The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - October 18, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Tags: Am J Orthopsychiatry Source Type: research