Relationships between Having a Child and Dangerous Substance Use Among Homeless Youth

Background

Understanding patterns of particularly dangerous substances, such as methamphetamines, binge drinking, and injection drug use, for homeless young men and women who have had children has important implications for research and service provision. Due to the stress and demands of parenting when unstably housed, the likelihood of dangerous substance behaviors may increase for homeless youth who are parents, and could vary by gender. On the other hand, the motivational force of parenting and additional services received may lead homeless youth who are parents to use dangerous substances less frequently. While such relationships are important for understanding risk and protective factors, they also inform service provision and support services provided in shelters and drop in centers. Thus, the aim of this study is to explore the relationship between having a biological child and recent dangerous drug use among youth experiencing homelessness, and to assess gender as a moderator.

Methods

This study included 1,010 youth (aged 14 to 26) recruited from three drop-in agencies serving homeless youth in Los Angeles. Exactly one-quarter had at least one biological child (n = 248). The four dependent variables included any endorsement of binge drinking, hard drug use (i.e., meth, cocaine, crack, heroin, or ecstasy), prescription drug misuse, and injection drug use in the past 30 days. All measures were self-reported. Multivariate logistic regression models were conducted on each of the four substance use dependent variables, and included independent/control variables as well as a two-way interaction between gender and having a biological child.

 

Results

In bivariate analyses, participants with a biological child were more likely to be older, employed, and have experience in foster care. They were also more likely to use hard drugs and injection drugs over the past month compared to those without children. No significant differences were found between those with and without children on high school education, gender, race, or sexual orientation. In multivariate models controlling for the various demographic and risk factors, having a biological child was associated with being three times more likely to binge drink [95% CI=1.09, 7.83] and use hard drugs [95% CI=1.22, 8.02], and roughly six times more likely to misuse prescription drugs [95% CI=2.00, 19.11] in the past 30 days. Gender significantly moderated in the association between having a child and binging [95% CI=0.20, 0.90] and prescription drug misuse [95% CI=0.13, 0.74], with fathers having a stronger relationship to both substance use behaviors.

Discussion

Results indicate that there are important differences in dangerous substance use between homeless youth who are parents compared to non-parents, and that gender plays a significant moderating role. These associations indicate that there is clear need for contextually-sensitive approaches to address substance use among homeless youth postpartum. These interventions will likely need to be tailored to address the unique and often complicated circumstances associated with pregnancy involvement and having a child (e.g. sexual abuse, stressors associated with pregnancy, losing custody etc.) among this group of youth, and also specifically seek to involve males in such service utilization.