This project will help us better identify and understand the factors in street youth's family histories, developmental patterns and processes, and the socio-environmental conditions that are linked to their victimization on the streets, their involvement in violence against others, and their alcohol use and abuse. Of particular interest is the role of alcohol abuse in placing street youth (ages 13-20) at risk of becoming both a victim of and a perpetrator of violence. It is hypothesized that alcohol exacerbates the physical and psychological risks associated with life on the streets, thus setting the course for adult homelessness. The project involves interviews with 400 homeless adolescents on the streets and through youth shelters in order to test a model developed by G.R. Patterson and colleagues. about the effects of cumulative risk and coercive family processes. A subsample of at least 100 parents/parent equivalents of these adolescents will also be interviewed. In addition. a subsample of 240 adolescents, selected for either high or low levels of alcohol use will be followed, on a quarterly basis, over a two year period. Data will be analyzed using standard regression techniques and repeated measures analysis. as well as structural equation modeling and survival analysis. African-Americans and females will be oversampled so that we can better understand whether or what gender and ethnic effects exist in terms of the etiologic factors, the risk factors, and the course of homelessness.
