It is well documented that a disproportionate number of
homeless adults have childhood histories of foster care placement(s). This
study examines the relationship between foster care placement as a predictor of
adult substance use disorders (including frequency, severity and type), mental illness,
vocational functioning, service use and duration of homelessness among a sample
of homeless adults with mental illness. We hypothesize that a history of foster
care predicts earlier, more severe and more frequent substance use, multiple
mental disorder diagnoses, discontinuous work history, and longer durations of
homelessness.
In multivariable regression models, a history of
foster care placement independently predicted incomplete high school, duration
of homelessness, discontinuous work history, less severe types of mental
illness, multiple mental disorders, early initiation of drug and/or alcohol
use, and daily drug use.
This is the first Canadian study to investigate
the relationship between a history of foster care and current substance use
among homeless adults with mental illness, controlling for several other
potential confounding factors. It is important to screen homeless youth who
exit foster care for substance use, and to provide integrated treatment for
concurrent disorders to homeless youth and adults who have both psychiatric and
substance use problems.
Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British, Columbia Canada
No comments:
Post a Comment