Table 1.
Sample characteristics of homeless women, by race/ethnicity and drug use: predisposing factors
| Race/ethnicity | Drug abuse | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | African American | White | Latina | Yes | No | |
| (N=974) | (n=564) | (n=152) | (n=258) | (n=448) | (n=522) | |
| Predisposing factors | % or mean (SD) |
% or mean (SD) |
% or mean (SD) |
% or mean (SD) |
% or mean (SD) |
% or mean (SD) |
| Demographics | ||||||
| Age | 32.9 (7.5) | 33.7 (7.1) | 32.8 (7.1) | 29.0 (7.6) | 34.2 (6.7) | 31.7 (7.9) |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||
| White | 16.3 | – | – | – | 19.8 | 12.9 |
| African American | 55.4 | – | – | – | 58.4 | 52.6 |
| Latina | 14.1 | – | – | – | 10.4 | 17.4 |
| Other | 14.3 | – | – | – | 11.4 | 17.0 |
| Education | 11.7 (2.3) | 11.8 (1.9) | 12.0 (2.4) | 10.6 (2.7) | 11.6 (2.0) | 11.8 (2.5) |
| Working, full- or part-time | 13.2 | 13.5 | 12.5 | 12.0 | 11.5 | 14.6 |
| Incarceration, lifetime | 51.2 | 55.1 | 48.3 | 34.4 | 75.7 | 28.7*** |
| Homeless history | ||||||
| Years homeless, lifetime | 2.7 (3.9) | 2.6 (3.7) | 3.4 (5.2) | 1.9 (3.1) | 4.1 (4.5) | 1.4 (2.6) |
| Newly homeless (first homeless episode and homeless <12 months, lifetime) | 37.3 | 34.6 | 42.1 | 51.1*** | 22.9 | 50.8*** |
| Usual place to stay, past 30 nights | ||||||
| Shelter | 56.1 | 53.2 | 57.3 | 72.9 | 41.4 | 70.1 |
| Traditional Housing | 14.0 | 12.7 | 14.6 | 12.7 | 14.8 | 13.5 |
| Drug treatment program | 12.3 | 17.2 | 10.9 | 5.5 | 22.8 | 3.0 |
| Limited housing | 5.0 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 5.2 | 7.6 | 2.8 |
| Outdoor areas | 12.5 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 3.7 | 13.4 | 10.7 |
| Social contacts | ||||||
| Living with partner | 19.4 | 13.4 | 28.7 | 23.1*** | 22.9 | 16.2** |
| No. of living children | 2.1 (1.9) | 2.3 (1.9) | 1.6 (1.8) | 2.3 (1.9) | 2.2 (1.9) | 2.1 (1.9) |
| No. of friends (two or more) | 47.6 | 50.3 | 42.4 | 41.5 | 51.9 | 43.5** |
| Socialization frequency | 3.2 (1.8) | 3.3 | 2.9 | 3.03 | 3.3 | 3.0* |
| Victimization history | ||||||
| Physically abused, <18 years old | 44.2 | 34.6 | 60.3 | 44.0*** | 58.0 | 31.5*** |
| Sexually abused, <18 years old | 32.0 | 25.6 | 45.8 | 18.7*** | 41.8 | 23.1*** |
| Physically abused, past 12 months | 34.0 | 31.7 | 36.6 | 26.6*** | 46.9 | 22.3*** |
| Sexually abused, past 12 months | 12.5 | 9.8 | 9.6 | 19.7*** | 16.5 | 8.9*** |
| Mental health | ||||||
| Mental health hospitalization, ever | 23.5 | 23.2 | 30.5 | 14.3** | 29.2 | 18.7*** |
| Psychological well-being, past month | 63.2 (23.4) | 65.9 (22.8) | 56.7 (25.9) | 62.6 (21.0) | 59.7 (24.0) | 66.5 (22.5) |
| Self-esteem | 3.8 (1.0) | 3.9 (0.9) | 3.4 (1.1) | 3.5 (1.1) | 3.7 (1.0) | 3.8 (1.0) |
| Depression, past year | 48.6 | 48.9 | 53.7 | 47.8 | 58.1 | 40.7*** |
| Substance use | ||||||
| Alcohol abuse/dependence, lifetime | 39.5 | 42.6 | 40.8 | 20.0*** | 63.8 | 16.9*** |
| Drug abuse/dependence, lifetime | 47.9 | 50.5 | 58.4 | 35.3*** | – | – |
| Injection drug use, past year | 7.9 | 5.3 | 14.3 | 12.1*** | 16.5 | 0.1*** |
| Sexual history | ||||||
| Sexually transmitted disease, lifetime | 42.4 | 52.5 | 36.3 | 21.0*** | 59.8 | 26.9*** |
| Multiple sex partners, past year | 46.4 | 49.1 | 47.7 | 31.8** | 63.5 | 28.7** |
| Sex trade, past year | 22.1 | 27.9 | 12.6 | 13.2*** | 42.1 | 3.9*** |
All N’s are unweighted, and all statistics are weighted.
*
p<0.05
**
p<0.01
***
p<0.001