TY - JOUR
T1 - Social Connectedness, Self-Efficacy, and Mental Health Outcomes Among Homeless Youth
T2 - Prioritizing Approaches to Service Provision in a Time of Limited Agency Resources
AU - Begun, Stephanie
AU - Bender, Kimberly A.
AU - Brown, Samantha M.
AU - Barman-Adhikari, Anamika
AU - Ferguson-Colvin, Kristin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2016.
Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/10/1
Y1 - 2018/10/1
N2 - Homeless youth frequently meet diagnosis criteria for depressive and/or substance use disorder(s). Although prior research has established that both social connectedness and self-efficacy buffer vulnerable youth’s adverse health outcomes, few studies have compared the potential of these protective factors on homeless youth’s mental well-being. The current study analyzes comparative effects of social connectedness and self-efficacy on meeting criteria for major depressive disorder, substance use disorder, and the co-occurrence of both disorders among a sample of 601 service-seeking homeless youth in Austin, Denver, and Los Angeles. Hierarchical logistic regressions indicate that while both social connectedness and self-efficacy constructs are valuable protective factors, social connectedness may offer greater utility, particularly in buffering against more complex mental health outcomes, such as the co-occurrence of depressive and substance use disorders. Accordingly, resource-strapped homeless youth service providers and researchers may benefit from tailoring mental health intervention strategies to further emphasize social connectedness in future efforts.
AB - Homeless youth frequently meet diagnosis criteria for depressive and/or substance use disorder(s). Although prior research has established that both social connectedness and self-efficacy buffer vulnerable youth’s adverse health outcomes, few studies have compared the potential of these protective factors on homeless youth’s mental well-being. The current study analyzes comparative effects of social connectedness and self-efficacy on meeting criteria for major depressive disorder, substance use disorder, and the co-occurrence of both disorders among a sample of 601 service-seeking homeless youth in Austin, Denver, and Los Angeles. Hierarchical logistic regressions indicate that while both social connectedness and self-efficacy constructs are valuable protective factors, social connectedness may offer greater utility, particularly in buffering against more complex mental health outcomes, such as the co-occurrence of depressive and substance use disorders. Accordingly, resource-strapped homeless youth service providers and researchers may benefit from tailoring mental health intervention strategies to further emphasize social connectedness in future efforts.
KW - homeless youth
KW - intervention design
KW - mental health
KW - self-efficacy
KW - social connectedness
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85029477290&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85029477290&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0044118X16650459
DO - 10.1177/0044118X16650459
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85029477290
SN - 0044-118X
VL - 50
SP - 989
EP - 1014
JO - Youth and Society
JF - Youth and Society
IS - 7
ER -