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Substance Use of Homeless and Precariously Housed Youth in a Canadian Context

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Abstract

Substance use is common among homeless and precariously housed youth, yet few longitudinal studies track their usage over time. This paper analyzes data from a study of 187 youth and reports on their substance usage in the preceding month, year, and over their lifetime. The results are compared within the sample by sex and against a sample of similarly located housed youth. Findings suggest that female homeless and precariously housed youth report lower substance use, but that with interventions substance use decreases for both sexes. Compared to housed youth, those who are homeless and precariously housed begin substance use at a significantly younger age.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, King’s University College at Western University, 266 Epworth Avenue, London, ON, N6A 2M3, Canada

    Rick Csiernik

  2. Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, ON, N6A 5B9, Canada

    Cheryl Forchuk

  3. Department of Sociology, Trent University, Otonabee College, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON, K9J 7B8, Canada

    Kristy Buccieri

  4. Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, 151 Dundas St. 3rd floor, PO Box 5045, London, ON, N6A 4L6, Canada

    Jan Richardson

  5. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Abraham Rudnick

  6. St Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Abraham Rudnick

  7. Lawson Health Research Institute, 750 Baseline Road East, Suite 102, London, ON, N6C 2R5, Canada

    Laura Warner & Amanda Wright

Authors
  1. Rick Csiernik
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  2. Cheryl Forchuk
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  3. Kristy Buccieri
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  4. Jan Richardson
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  5. Abraham Rudnick
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  6. Laura Warner
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  7. Amanda Wright
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rick Csiernik.

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Conflict of Interest

Rick Csiernik, Cheryl Forchuk, KristyBuccieri, Jan Richardson, Abraham Rudnick, Laura Warner and Amanda Wright declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1995, as revised in 2000 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in this study.

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Csiernik, R., Forchuk, C., Buccieri, K. et al. Substance Use of Homeless and Precariously Housed Youth in a Canadian Context. Int J Ment Health Addiction 15, 1–15 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-016-9656-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-016-9656-4

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