Cell Phone Use among Homeless Youth: Potential for New Health Interventions and Research
Cell Phone Use among Homeless Youth: Potential for New Health Interventions and Research
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DOI：
10.1007/s11524-011-9624-z
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发表时间：
2011-12-01
影响因子：
6.6
通讯作者：
Taitt, Sean
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Rice, Eric;Lee, Alex;Taitt, Sean
在美国，使用手机在青少年中几乎无处不在。尽管手机有可能促进对无家可归青年的干预、研究和护理，但迄今为止还没有关于这一人群使用手机的数据。2009年，在加利福尼亚州洛杉矶的169名无家可归的青年中进行了一项关于手机使用情况的非概率样本调查。所有权和使用水平，工具使用（连接到个案工作者，雇主）和连接到各种网络类型的模式进行了评估（家庭，在家的同龄人，街头同龄人）。社会人口学特征和手机拥有率的差异通过t检验和卡方统计进行评估。62%的无家可归青年拥有手机; 40%的人有工作电话。17%的人用手机打电话给案件经理，36%的人打电话给潜在或现任雇主。51%的年轻人通过电话与家中的同龄人联系，41%的人与父母联系。手机为干预研究提供了新的机会，将无家可归的青年与家人和在家的同龄人联系起来，他们在需要时可以成为社会支持的来源。此外，手机为研究人员和供应商提供了与这些高度流动的年轻人保持联系的新途径。
Cell phone use has become nearly ubiquitous among adolescents in the United States. Despite the potential for cell phones to facilitate intervention, research, and care for homeless youth, no data exists to date on cell phone use among this population. In 2009, a survey of cell phone use was conducted among a non-probability sample of 169 homeless youth in Los Angeles, CA. Levels of ownership and use, instrumental uses (connecting to case workers, employers) and patterns of connecting to various network types were assessed (family, home-based peers, street-based peers). Differences in socio-demographic characteristics and cell phone ownership were assessed via t test and chi-square statistics. Sixty-two percent of homeless youth own a cell phone; 40% have a working phone. Seventeen percent used their phone to call a case manager, 36% to call either a potential or current employer. Fifty-one percent of youth connected with home-based peers on the phone and 41% connected to parents. Cell phones present new opportunities for intervention research, connecting homeless youth to family and home-based peers who can be sources of social support in times of need. Moreover, cell phones provide researchers and providers with new avenues to maintain connections with these highly transient youth.