Elsevier

Journal of Adolescence

Volume 24, Issue 4, August 2001, Pages 447-460
Journal of Adolescence

Regular Article
Depression, suicidal ideation and STD-related risk in homeless older adolescents

https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.2001.0382Get rights and content

Abstract

Goals of this study were to examine the frequency of depression and related constructs of suicidal ideation and hopelessness in a sample of homeless older adolescents and their associations with behaviors that may increase the risk of sexually transmitted disease (STD). Diagnostic interviews and blood/urine samples were obtained from 523 homeless adolescents (mean age=17·8). Overall, 12·2 per cent had a current DSM-IV diagnosis of major depression and 6·5 per cent had dysthymia, with higher rates for female and older participants. Depression appeared to precede rather than follow homelessness and was associated with biologically verified STDs (in older participants), infrequent condom use, a non-heterosexual orientation (in older participants), and lifetime homosexual experience. Unlike depression, suicidal ideation and hopelessness were associated with higher rates of intravenous drug use but lower rates of multiple sex partners and, in young homeless women, less sexual coercion. Depression is frequent in homeless older adolescents and has a complex association with STD-related behaviors.

References (49)

  • E.L. Bassuk et al.

    Prevalence of mental health and substance use disorders among homeless and low-income housed mothers

    American Journal of Psychiatry

    (1998)
  • A.T. Beck et al.

    The measurement of pessimism: the Hopelessness Scale

    Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

    (1974)
  • A. Biglan et al.

    Social and behavioral factors associated with high-risk sexual behavior among adolescents

    Journal of Behavioral Medicine

    (1990)
  • A.M. Cauce et al.

    The characteristics and mental health of homeless adolescents: Age and gender differences

    Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

    (1999)
  • R.J. Calsyn et al.

    Can you trust self-report data provided by homeless mentally ill individuals?

    Evaluation Review

    (1993)
  • Y.W. Chen et al.

    Mental health, social environmental and sexual risk behaviors of adolescent service users: a gender comparison

    Journal of Child and Family Studies

    (1997)
  • B. Chewning et al.

    Predicting adolescents' initiation of intercourse and contraceptive use

    Journal of Applied Social Psychology

    (1998)
  • J.A. Cohen

    A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales

    Education and Psychological Measurement

    (1960)
  • F.M. Culbertson

    Depression and gender: an international review

    American Psychologist

    (1997)
  • R.F. Doljanac et al.

    Psychosocial factors and high-risk sexual behaviors: Race differences among urban adolescents

    Journal of Behavioral Medicine

    (1998)
  • M.E. Ensminger

    Adolescent sexual behavior as it relates to other transitional behaviors in youth

  • N.L. Farberow

    Assessment of suicide

  • M.B. First et al.

    Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders—Nonpatient Edition

    (1995)
  • M. Greenblatt et al.

    Homeless adolescents: Lifestyle, survival strategies and sexual behaviors

    Hospital and Community Psychiatry

    (1993)
  • Cited by (88)

    • Homelessness and mental health among youth: a research perspective

      2023, Encyclopedia of Mental Health, Third Edition: Volume 1-3
    • Suicidality in homeless children and adolescents: A systematic review

      2022, Aggression and Violent Behavior
      Citation Excerpt :

      Other studies point to lower yet concerning rates, such as almost 40% of homeless youths identifying as non-heterosexual endorsing suicidal ideation. Moreover, those who reported homosexual experiences had a prevalence of suicidal ideation of up to 53% (Rohde et al., 2001). Gender differences in the LGBTQ youth were also observed.

    • Health and social aspects of homelessness

      2016, Kontakt
      Citation Excerpt :

      Methodological issues of the different investigations in this area are: to what extent these are real personality disorders and to what extent they are manifestations of behaviour in relation to the maladjustment caused by life on the street and traumatic medical histories. A similar situation exists in the case of affective disorders [33]. The incidence of psychiatric diagnoses is higher among homeless women compared with homeless men [34] and increases with age.

    • Gender differences in depression and condom use among sexually active Canadians

      2015, Journal of Affective Disorders
      Citation Excerpt :

      Earlier studies that looked at the association between mental health and sexual risk behaviour often considered sexual risk behaviour as a combination of several such risk behaviours, e.g., unprotected sex, number of sexual partners, and sexually transmitted infection diagnosis (Lennon et al., 2012; Stiffman et al., 1992). Some studies looked at the association of depression and condom use, but only in specific sub-groups, e.g., STI clinic patients, HIV care clients, and adolescents (Brown et al., 2006; Lehrer et al., 2006; Lerand et al., 2006; Rohde et al., 2001; Testa and Steinberg, 2010; Wagner et al., 2011; Zhan et al., 2012). The only study involving a large representative Canadian sample used predictive modeling in identifying the correlates of condom use, with mood disorder as a covariate (Dhalla and Poole, 2009).

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    f1

    Reprint requests and correspondence should be addressed to Paul Rohde, Oregon Research Institute, 1715 Franklin Blvd., Eugene, OR, 97403-1983. E-mail: [email protected].

    View full text