Mental Health of People Experiencing Homelessness and the Role of Hopelessness, Alcohol Use Disorder and Victimisation

IF 1.3 4区医学 Q3 CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY

Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health Pub Date : 2025-07-22 DOI:10.1002/cbm.70003

Joscha Hausam, Friedrich Lösel, Robert J. B. Lehmann

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Homelessness is an urgent social issue that is often linked to poor mental health. Despite their vulnerability, people experiencing homelessness remain an understudied group.

Aims

This study examined the mental health of people experiencing homelessness and its association with victimisation, alcohol use disorder, hopelessness and sociodemographic factors.

Methods

Data were collected from 112 people experiencing homelessness in Berlin, Germany (40% women, average age 44, homeless for 4 years). Participants completed a set of validated questionnaires (e.g., Symptom Checklist—Revised for mental health problems).

Results

Results indicate significantly elevated levels of mental health problems, hopelessness and alcohol use disorder in the sample, along with high rates of victimisation. Correlational and regression analyses revealed significant associations between mental health and victimisation but not with alcohol use disorder and hopelessness. Associations with sociodemographics suggest that younger people and people with a migration background are particularly affected by mental health problems.

Conclusions

The findings underscore the urgent need for comprehensive interventions that address social and structural inequalities to improve the mental health of this highly vulnerable population. More research with larger, culturally sensitive samples and longitudinal designs is needed to better understand and address the complex interplay between homelessness and mental health.

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无家可归者的心理健康以及绝望、酒精使用障碍和受害的作用。

背景：无家可归是一个紧迫的社会问题，往往与精神健康状况不佳有关。尽管他们很脆弱，但无家可归的人仍然是一个未被充分研究的群体。目的：本研究调查了无家可归者的心理健康状况及其与受害、酒精使用障碍、绝望和社会人口因素的关系。方法：收集了德国柏林112名无家可归者的数据（40%为女性，平均年龄44岁，无家可归4年）。参与者完成了一套有效的问卷调查（如：症状检查表-心理健康问题修订）。结果：结果表明，样本中心理健康问题、绝望和酒精使用障碍的水平显著提高，受害率也很高。相关分析和回归分析显示，心理健康与受害之间存在显著关联，但与酒精使用障碍和绝望之间没有关联。与社会人口统计学的关联表明，年轻人和有移徙背景的人特别容易受到心理健康问题的影响。结论：研究结果强调，迫切需要采取综合干预措施，解决社会和结构不平等问题，以改善这一高度脆弱人群的心理健康。为了更好地理解和解决无家可归与心理健康之间复杂的相互作用，需要更多的研究，对更大的、文化敏感的样本和纵向设计进行研究。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health Multiple-

CiteScore

1.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health – CBMH – aims to publish original material on any aspect of the relationship between mental state and criminal behaviour. Thus, we are interested in mental mechanisms associated with offending, regardless of whether the individual concerned has a mental disorder or not. We are interested in factors that influence such relationships, and particularly welcome studies about pathways into and out of crime. These will include studies of normal and abnormal development, of mental disorder and how that may lead to offending for a subgroup of sufferers, together with information about factors which mediate such a relationship.