Homeless, Street-Involved Emerging Adults: Attitudes Toward Substance Use

Abstract

Research has indicated that a high proportion of homeless emerging adults use substances. This article aims to understand the attitudes of these young adults concerning their substance use and its effect on their lives. A mixed methods study using semistructured interviews and self-report instruments was conducted with 87 emerging adults who received homeless services from a community drop-in center. Qualitative analyses found that participants reported positive attitudes of substance use; however, many recognized the benefits of a life without drugs or alcohol. Findings suggest attitudes toward substance use and the role of substance use in the lives of homeless emerging adults are viewed as a valuable means of coping with street life, connecting with peers, and managing physical and mental health symptoms.

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“…The major themes that emerged from the studies were the positive effects of and reasons for substance use from homeless youth's perspective [3,22,24,27], psychosocial variables of homeless youth and SU, properties of social networks and effects on SU [5,25,[28][29][30], the heterogeneity of homeless youth [18,20,26,31], and the lack of knowledge and effective interventions for this highly vulnerable subgroup [2,16,20,23]. The disaffiliation of emerging adults from social institutions and mainstream society is also a concern [1,21,31] while there are few effective interventions or policies to address this growing issue [21,32].…”

“…However, studies focussed on homeless youth suggest young people are more likely to develop substance use issues secondary to becoming homeless with SU severity and polydrug use increaseing in relation to the time spent homeless [9,13,[18][19][20][21]. Substance use is a complex behaviour serving multiple purposes for youth, particularly helping to connect with others as part of the street culture [2,22,23]. It provides disaffiliated youth a means of support to cope with adversity and untreated physical and mental health problems [2,3,22,[24][25][26].…”

“…These findings suggest that a history of exposure to trauma is strongly associated with the development of mental health disorders, suicidal ideation and substance abuse therefore trauma should be address concurrently with these disorders. [2,[17][18][19]]. …”

“…Substance use is a complex behaviour serving multiple purposes for youth, particularly helping to connect with others as part of the street culture [2,22,23]. It provides disaffiliated youth a means of support to cope with adversity and untreated physical and mental health problems [2,3,22,[24][25][26].…”

“…There is a paucity of literature on youth homelessness and the meaning of substance use in their lives [1,2]. Due largely to the stigma surrounding their situation, homeless young people frequently find themselves on the outside of social institutions.…”