Pa. Mccaskill et al., HOMELESS AND MATCHED HOUSED ADOLESCENTS - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY, Journal of clinical child psychology, 27(3), 1998, pp. 306-319
Compared a probability sample of 118 homeless adolescents (ages 12-17)
from 6 shelters from throughout the 7-county Detroit metropolitan are
a to a marched sample of 118 housed adolescents using the Diagnostic I
nterview Schedule for Children (DISC), which yields diagnoses based on
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., r
ev.; DSM-III-R; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) criteria, and
the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Adolescents in the housed compariso
n group were matched on age, sex, race, and neighborhood characteristi
cs. Analyses, including ones controlling for a set of 10 risk and resi
lience factors, indicated that the homeless showed more disruptive beh
avior disorders and alcohol abuse or dependence on the DISC and greate
r levels of symptomatology on the BSI. There were no significant group
differences on drug abuse or affective disorders, and psychotic disor
ders were rare in both groups. This pattern of findings is not entirel
y consistent with popular stereotypes about homeless youth nor with ma
ny existing studies (which have often failed to include an appropriate
comparison group).