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Correlates of Substance Use Severity Among Homeless Youth
Author(s) -
Nyamathi Adeline,
Hudson Angela,
Greengold Barbara,
Slagle Alexandra,
Marfisee Mary,
Khalilifard Farinaz,
Leake Barbara
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of child and adolescent psychiatric nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.331
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1744-6171
pISSN - 1073-6077
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-6171.2010.00247.x
Subject(s) - substance use , psychology , psychiatry , medicine , clinical psychology
PROBLEM: This cross‐sectional study identified a number of factors that were correlated with drug‐use severity among homeless youth. METHODS: To examine a commonly used measure of substance‐use severity, the TCU Drug Screen II, in a convenience sample of 156 homeless youth, ages 15–25 from a drop‐in site in Santa Monica, California. FINDINGS: Higher drug‐use severity scores were independently related to low levels of perceived health and maladaptive coping strategies. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study are particularly relevant in that they support previous results showing that psychosocial variables are related to substance use behavior among young populations.