Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase
310638
Social network, mental health, and sexual risk behavior correlates of binge drinking among homeless youth
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
: 1:10 PM - 1:30 PM
Eric Rice, PhD
,
School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Hailey Winetrobe, MPH, CHES
,
School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Background: Homeless youth report high rates of heavy drinking, and prior research suggests that heavy drinking may be associated with mental health disorders and sexual risk behavior. Social networks may provide important routes for intervening to prevent binge drinking and related risk behavior in this population. Methods: From October 2011-June 2013 992 homeless youth were recruited from three drop-in centers in the Los Angeles area. Youth completed interviews about substance use, risk behavior, and social network characteristics. Results: Past month binge drinking (5+ drinks in two hours) was reported by 49.3% of youth. Binge drinking was more likely among male youth, Latinos, those who reported having been beaten up/hurt badly, and those with a higher proportion of social network member (alters) who used any hard drug. Binge drinking was less likely among youth who self-identified as travelers, those with a greater proportion of network alters who were relatives, and alters with whom they had weekly contact. In multivariable logistic regression models controlling for demographic factors, binge drinking was associated with suicide attempts, PTSD, concurrent sex, unprotected sex, and multiple sex partners in the past month. Conclusions: Homeless youth in this study reported high rates of past month binge drinking, and binge drinking was associated with both mental health problems and sexual risk behavior. Reducing binge drinking may therefore be important for improving mental health and reducing sexual risk; for example, encouraging homeless youth to connect with more relatives may be an important component of risk reduction interventions for homeless youth.
Learning Areas:
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Describe the relationship between binge drinking, mental health, and sexual risk behavior among this sample of homeless youth.
Identify social network characteristics associated with binge drinking among this population.
Keyword(s): Homelessness, Alcohol Use
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the project director of the research study from which these data came, and have been an investigator on several other studies examining health and risk behavior among homeless and other vulnerable populations. I conducted all data analysis and conceptualization for this abstract.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
