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Material Security as a Measure of Poverty: A Validation Study with People Who Use Drugs

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Abstract

Poverty and socioeconomic status (SES) are conventionally measured through indicators of income, wealth, education and/or occupation, but for some populations such as people who use drugs (PWUD), these measures may not sufficiently capture material well-being. This paper examines the validity of material security, measured through a modified Family Resource Scale (FRS), as an alternative measure of poverty, comparing this to other measures in the context of exposure to violence among PWUD using multivariable generalized estimating equations. Three factors were detected within the FRS using exploratory factor analysis although confirmatory factor analysis did not confirm multifactorial structure. In contrast to other SES measures that had no or positive relationships with exposure to violence, higher FRS scores were associated with lower odds of exposure to violence in final analyses. The FRS thus adds an important perspective to the measurement of poverty, with potential relevance to other populations.

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Funding

The authors thank the study participants for their contribution to the research, as well as current and past researchers and staff. The study was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (U01DA038886 and U01DA021525). Jenna Van Draanen is supported by postdoctoral fellowship awards from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR). Lindsey Richardson, Kanna Hayashi, and M-J Milloy are supported by New Investigator Awards from CIHR (MSH 217672, MSH 141971, MSH 360816) and Scholar Awards from MSFHR. Lindsey Richardson’s research is additionally supported by a CIHR Foundation Grant (FDN-154320). M-J Milloy is additionally supported by the US National Institutes of Health (U01DA0251525). His institution has received an unstructured gift to support him from NG Biomed, Ltd., a private firm applying for a government license to produce cannabis. He holds the Canopy Growth professorship in cannabis science which was established through unstructured gifts to the University of British Columbia from Canopy Growth, a licensed producer of cannabis, and the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions of the Government of British Columbia. Kanna Hayashi is additionally supported by the St. Paul’s Foundation. This research was undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada Research Chairs program through a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Inner City Medicine, which supports Dr. Evan Wood, Director of the BC Centre on Substance Use.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Jenna van Draanen & Lindsey Richardson

  2. British Columbia Centre On Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe St, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 2A9, Canada

    Jenna van Draanen, Kanna Hayashi, M.-J. Milloy, Ekaterina Nosova, Cameron Grant & Lindsey Richardson

  3. Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Kanna Hayashi

  4. Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    M.-J. Milloy & Ekaterina Nosova

  5. British Columbia Centres for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Hennady Shulha

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  1. Jenna van Draanen
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van Draanen, J., Hayashi, K., Milloy, MJ. et al. Material Security as a Measure of Poverty: A Validation Study with People Who Use Drugs. Soc Indic Res 157, 501–521 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-021-02663-1

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