Mental disorder, subsistence strategies, and victimization among gay, lesbian, and bisexual homeless and runaway adolescents

J Sex Res. 2004 Nov;41(4):329-42. doi: 10.1080/00224490409552240.

Abstract

This study compares participation in deviant subsistence strategies, street victimization, and lifetime prevalence of five mental disorders (conduct disorder, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse) among heterosexual males and females (n = 366) and gay, lesbian, and bisexual (n = 63) homeless and runaway adolescents from the first wave of a longitudinal study of homeless youth in four Midwestern states. The results indicate that gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents were more likely to have been physically and sexually abused by caretakers, we more likely to engage in risky survival strategies when on their own (including survival sex), were more likely to be physically and sexually victimized when on the streets, and were more likely to meet criteria for mental disorder than were their heterosexual counterparts.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior / psychology
  • Adult
  • Bisexuality / psychology
  • Bisexuality / statistics & numerical data*
  • Crime Victims / psychology
  • Crime Victims / statistics & numerical data*
  • Female
  • Homeless Youth / psychology
  • Homeless Youth / statistics & numerical data*
  • Homosexuality, Female / psychology
  • Homosexuality, Female / statistics & numerical data*
  • Homosexuality, Male / psychology
  • Homosexuality, Male / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Male
  • Mental Disorders / epidemiology*
  • Mental Disorders / psychology
  • Midwestern United States / epidemiology
  • Peer Group
  • Prevalence
  • Psychology, Adolescent
  • Risk-Taking*
  • Runaway Behavior / psychology
  • Sexual Behavior
  • Surveys and Questionnaires