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Journal of Urban Health : Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine logoLink to Journal of Urban Health : Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
. 1999 Mar;76(1):39–50. doi: 10.1007/BF02344460

The montefiore community children's project: A controlled study of cognitive and emotional problems of homeless mothers and children

Mutya San Agustin 1,✉, Patricia Cohen 2,3, David Rubin 4, Sean D Cleary 5, Canadace J Erickson 6, Janet K Allen 7
PMCID: PMC3456713  PMID: 10091189

Abstract

Objectives

This study compares the prevalence of emotional, academic, and cognitive impairment in children and mothers living in the community with those living in shelters for the homeless.

Method

In New York City, 82 homeless mothers and their 102 children, aged 6 to 11, recruited from family shelters were compared to 115 nonhomeless mothers with 176 children recruited from classmates of the homeless children. Assessments included standardized tests and interviews.

Results

Mothers in shelters for the homeless showed higher rates of depression and anxiety than did nonhomeless mothers. Boys in homeless shelters showed higher rates of serious emotional and behavioral problems. Both boys and girls in homeless shelters showed more academic problems than did nonhomeless children.

Conclusion

Study findings suggest a need among homeless children for special attention to academic problems that are not attributable to intellectual deficits in either children or their mothers. Although high rates of emotional and behavioral problems characterized poor children living in both settings, boys in shelters for the homeless may be particularly in need of professional attention.

Full Text

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