Article
Mental Health and Adaptation of Children Experiencing Family Homelessness
Advances in Child and Family Policy and Practice
(2017)
Abstract
In a short-term, longitudinal study of children’s adaptation within the context of homelessness, 19 children (ages 8–11 years) and their parents participated while residing in emergency housing for families. The study had three goals: (1) examine mental health symptoms in children and parents at an initial point in time (T1), and again 1 month later (T2) to assess rates and change over time; (2) compare symptoms of children’s traumatic stress and other internalizing problems as reported by children and by parents; and (3) test whether aspects of children’s cognitive functioning and parenting warmth assessed at T1 predict mental health symptoms at T2. Results indicated high rates of traumatic stress, internalizing, and externalizing symptoms among children with little evidence of change over 1 month. Rates of clinically elevated distress in parents decreased significantly from T1 to T2. Compared to children’s self-reported traumatic stress symptoms, parents’ reports of their children’s traumatic stress symptoms were significantly lower and were associated with parents’ self-reported distress. Parenting warmth and child executive functioning predicted fewer child externalizing problems at T2. Contrary to expectations, executive functioning at T1 predicted higher scores for child traumatic stress and other internalizing problems at T2. We discuss implications of these findings for assessment of child and family functioning in the context of emergency housing.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2017
Citation Information
Janette E. Herbers, J. J. Cutuli, Lyuboslava Kolarova, Amanda Albu, et al.. "Mental Health and Adaptation of Children Experiencing Family Homelessness" Advances in Child and Family Policy and Practice (2017) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jj_cutuli/29/