Purpose

Economic instability is a significant and growing problem among emerging adults in the U.S. This study identifies adolescent factors across multiple levels of influence that predict homelessness and food insecurity 5 years later.

Methods

The analytic sample (n = 2,110) completed a survey in 2015–2016 (mean age 17) that assessed a range of demographic, behavioral health, family, peer, academic, and neighborhood factors, and a follow-up survey in 2019–2020 (mean age 23) that assessed past-year homelessness and food insecurity. Logistic regression analyses were conducted for the full sample, and by race/ethnicity.

Results

At follow-up, 7.5% of participants reported homelessness, and 29.3% reported food insecurity. Multivariate analyses indicated that only adverse childhood experiences and weaker academic orientation predicted both outcomes. Future homelessness was additionally predicted by greater exposure to substance using peers during adolescence. Identifying as Hispanic, lower maternal education, and greater neighborhood disorganization were risk factors for future food insecurity, and living with both biological parents and better mental health were protective factors. Race/ethnicity stratified models showed variations in multilevel predictors of both outcomes, except for adverse childhood experiences, which were significant across all subgroups.

Conclusions

Adverse childhood experiences and weaker academic orientation emerged as the most robust predictors of economic instability in emerging adulthood. However, a range of other modifiable multilevel predictors in adolescence were identified that were unique to homelessness or food insecurity and that varied by race/ethnicity. Results suggest the need for multilevel approaches early in life to reduce risk of economic instability during emerging adulthood.

中文翻译：

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成年后无家可归和粮食不安全的晚期青春期预测因素

目的

经济不稳定是美国新兴成年人面临的一个严重且日益严重的问题。这项研究确定了影响 5 年后无家可归和粮食不安全的多层次影响的青少年因素。

方法

分析样本 (n = 2,110) 在 2015-2016 年（平均年龄 17 岁）完成了一项调查，评估了一系列人口统计、行为健康、家庭、同龄人、学术和邻里因素，并在 2019-2020 年进行了一项后续调查（平均年龄 23 岁）评估过去一年的无家可归和粮食不安全。对整个样本进行了逻辑回归分析，并按种族/族裔进行了分析。

结果

在后续行动中，7.5% 的参与者报告无家可归，29.3% 的参与者报告粮食不安全。多变量分析表明，只有不良的童年经历和较弱的学业取向才能预测这两种结果。未来无家可归者还可以通过在青春期更多地接触使用同龄人的物质来预测。西班牙裔身份、较低的母亲教育程度和更大的社区混乱是未来粮食不安全的风险因素，与亲生父母同住和更好的心理健康是保护因素。种族/族裔分层模型显示两种结果的多层次预测因子存在差异，但不良童年经历除外，这在所有亚组中都很显着。

结论

不良的童年经历和较弱的学术取向成为新兴成年期经济不稳定的最有力预测因素。然而，确定了一系列其他可修改的青春期多级预测因子，这些预测因子是无家可归或粮食不安全所特有的，并且因种族/族裔而异。结果表明，需要在生命早期采用多层次方法来降低成年初期经济不稳定的风险。