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A psychological study of homeless young women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Gael Meadowcroft  and
Denise Charman
Gael Meadowcroft
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Victoria University
Denise Charman*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Victoria University
*
Department of Psychology, Victoria University, PO Box 14428, MELBOURNE Victoria MC8001, Ph. 03 9365 2536, Fax: 03 9365 2218, E-mail: Denise.Charman@vu.edu.a
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Abstract

Little is known about individual differences in homeless young women.The aim of this study was to investigate these differences in an Australian context and to examine specifially the impact of level of completed education and length of time spent homeless.Two groups of homeless young women aged between 16 and 19 years were contacted through outreach, housing, and juvenile justice workers. A conduct disordered (CD) group (n = 15) and a not-conduct disordered (NCD) group (n = 16) completed a demographic questionnaire as well as six CPI subscales of responsibility, socialization, tolerance, achievement via conformance, good impression, and well-being. Their CPI profiles were significantly lower and different in pattern to an American female CD profile. A one-way MANOVA showed that the CD group had lower mean scores on all subscales than the NCD group. Logistic regression showed that the socialization subscale predicted group membership. Socialization differences between CD and NCD groups of homeless young women were linked to level of completed educotion rather than to length of time out of home. Higher levels of completed education were associated with absence of conduct disorder and greater socialization. These results support previous research showing that homeless young women are at risk of endangering their physical and psychosocial health.This research also reveals that extra time spent at school can mediate these effects.

Keywords

AdolescentsCalifornian Psychological InventoryConduct DisorderHomeless
Type
Research Article
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , 2000 , pp. 70 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 2000

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