Suchergebnisse

This study examined whether family help seeking and family support represented the same or distinct constructs and prospective associations between emergent constructs and psychosocial outcomes. Data were from 1,713 school‐based adolescents participating in a randomized controlled trial, in Victoria, Australia. Family help seeking emerged as a single factor, distinct from family support, and was prospectively associated with improved psychosocial outcomes. Father closeness predicted lower depressive symptoms. Family help seeking predicted higher help seeking for peers. Interactions between family help seeking and family support on psychosocial outcomes were not apparent. Findings highlight the importance of examining family help seeking and family support separately in future studies of adolescents' help‐seeking behavior.

AbstractHomeless young adults are at increased risk for contact with the police and are overrepresented in the justice system. This study explored associations between homelessness, antisocial behaviour and violence victimisation using longitudinal panel data gathered through young adulthood. Data were drawn from a state representative population‐based sample of young adults from Victoria, Australia participating in the International Youth Development Study (IYDS; n = 2884, 54% female). Participants were surveyed at age 21 years, with follow‐up at ages 23 and 25 years. We examined changes in the prevalence of homelessness and tested hypothesised directional relationships between young adult homelessness, antisocial behaviour and violence victimisation using longitudinal cross‐lagged panel models. Multiple‐group modelling was used to test whether these relationships were moderated by gender. The prevalence of young adult homelessness was highest at age 21 (6.5%), declining at ages 23 (3.9%) and 25 years (2.5%). Results showed that young adult homelessness, antisocial behaviour and victimisation were related cross‐sectionally, but not longitudinally. Gender did not significantly moderate these associations. Findings suggest that the state of homelessness is associated with temporary vulnerability to potentially harmful and problematic situations involving antisocial behaviour and victimisation. These situations are likely to heighten risk for contact with the police and direct physical and psychological harm.

Housing insecurity is concerning at any age, but the prevalence and predictors of young adult housing insecurity are poorly described. Multivariable regression analyses using cross-national longitudinal data from a population-based sample tested prospective associations between various adolescent predictors and young adult housing insecurity. Participants from Washington State (United States) and Victoria (Australia) were surveyed at ages 13, 14 and 15 (2002–2004) and 25 and 29 years (2014–15, 2018–19; N = 1945; 46% female). The prevalence of housing insecurity was 9%. Multivariable predictors of housing insecurity included living in Washington State, antisocial behavior, a history of school suspension, and academic underachievement. School suspension was more strongly related to insecure housing in Washington State than in Victoria. Future analyses should explore state policy differences and risk and protective processes within social-ecological contexts to identify population-level modifiable upstream risk factors for housing insecurity that can be targeted earlier in the life course.