Homelessness, violence exposure, and school participation among urban adolescent mothers

✍ Scribed by Angie C. Kennedy

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 141 KB
• Volume: 35
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0090-4392
• DOI: 10.1002/jcop.20169

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Using a risk and resilience framework, this exploratory study examines the relationships between homelessness, exposure to multiple types of violence, and school participation within a survey sample of poor adolescent mothers living in an urban setting. Participants who were homeless either currently or historically were compared with participants who had never been homeless in terms of rate of violence exposure and school participation. Social support was analyzed as a moderator of the effects of violence exposure on the odds of homelessness, while positive attitude toward school was assessed as a moderator of homelessness on school participation. Results from MANOVA indicate that participants who report homelessness have significantly higher rates of exposure to violence and significantly lower rates of social support, positive attitude toward school, and school participation in comparison with participants who have never been homeless. Regression analyses indicate that violence exposure, moderated by social support, plays a significant contributing role in participants' odds of ever being homeless. Experiencing homelessness, in turn, is a significant contributor to reduced school participation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 35: 639–654, 2007.