Experiences with trauma and victimization: The impact on treatment engagement and outcomes for mothers experiencing homelessness

This presentation will examine the impact of experiences with different types of trauma and victimization on treatment engagement and outcomes for homeless mothers with young children living in shelters in greater Boston. Women (n=225) are enrolled in Families Living Together (FLT), a trauma-focused Integrated Clinical Case Management program and are interviewed at intake and 6-months using the Post Traumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS; Foa et al., 1993) and a range of other measures. Types of victimization (e.g., experiencing the death of a child, experiencing physical violence, being the victim of sexual assault) and related traumagenic factors (e.g., age at time of incident, recency, relationship to perpetrator(s), number of events experienced) will be explored: 1) what characteristics are associated with experiencing any victimization—do the characteristics differ by type of victimization? 2) what is the impact of cumulative exposure to multiple forms of victimization; 3) what is the impact of early victimization (before age 18)? 4) what is the impact of victimization on outcomes? Outcomes of interest include: substance use; psychological health; suicidal behaviors; physical health; treatment retention; risky behaviors; illegal activities and criminal involvement; vocational activities; and the use of mental health and other services.