Neglect and Abuse Histories Among Homeless Young Adults

描述(由申请者提供)：这是NIMH导师研究科学家发展奖(K01)的申请。候选人建议使用为期5年的指导支持期来研究忽视和虐待历史对目前无家可归的年轻人(18-25岁)无家可归的影响，以及这种轨迹对心理健康结果的影响。目前无家可归的200名年轻人的样本将通过四家服务机构进行挑选。将对导致无家可归的不同途径进行分析，以确定那些在18岁之前首次经历无家可归的人是否面临不同类型的风险和韧性，而那些直到18岁才经历无家可归的人是否面临不同类型的风险和韧性。尽管目前大多数无家可归的年轻人预计来自虐待和/或功能失调的家庭背景，但假设的两种不同的无家可归途径预计会对抑郁症状、创伤后应激、问题行为、药物使用、受害、受害行为和韧性的结果产生不同的影响。 K01将支持培训、课程作业、研讨会、指导关系、二次数据分析、实证研究和其他将导致成为独立研究人员的职业目标的经验。这项初步研究还将为NIMH R01奠定基础，该研究将纵向调查成年后早期无家可归的结果。这项拟议的工作将评估无家可归者最终是否得到安置，以及成功实现这一过渡与他们的心理健康有何关联。除这一目标外，目前项目的其他具体目标包括：使用生活历法增加我们对导致成年初期无家可归的生活事件的了解；查明虐待和忽视的历史；查明受害和街头受害行为的经历；评估目前的抑郁症状和其他心理健康后果；以及确定复原能力的特征。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a request for an NIMH Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01). The candidate proposes to use a mentored support period of 5 years to study the effects of neglect and abuse histories on pathways to homelessness among currently homeless young adults (aged 18-25 years) and the consequences that such trajectories have on mental health outcomes. A sample of 200 young adult currently homeless men and women will be selected through four service agencies. The different pathways that lead to homelessness will be analyzed to determine if those who first experienced homelessness prior to age 18 years face different types of risk and resilience compared to those who didn't experience homelessness until after age 18 years. Although the majority of currently homeless young adults are expected to come from abusive and/or dysfunctional family backgrounds, the two different pathways to homelessness that are hypothesized are expected to differentially impact outcomes of depressive symptoms, post-traumatic stress, problem behaviors, substance use, victimization, victimizing behaviors, and resilience. The K01 will support training, coursework, workshops, mentored relationships, secondary data analyses, empirical research, and other experiences that will lead to the career goal of becoming an independent researcher. The pilot study will also lay the groundwork for an NIMH R01, which will investigate longitudinally later adult outcomes of early adult homelessness. This proposed work will assess whether homeless people eventually become housed and how success in making this transition is associated with their mental health. In addition to this aim, other specific aims of the current project include using life history calendars to increase our understanding of life-events that lead to early adult homelessness; to identify histories of abuse and neglect; to identify experiences of victimization and victimizing behaviors on the street; to assess current depressive symptoms and other mental health outcomes; and to identify characteristics of resilience.