Journal Article

Housing instability patterns among low-income, urban Black young adults in California and associations with mental health outcomes: baseline data from a randomized waitlist-controlled trial

Bright, D. Jovon, Libby, Margaret K., Leslie, Hannah H., Estrada, Itzel, Nakphong, Michelle K., Lippman, Sheri A., Lisha, Nadra E., Mocello, A. Rain, Koreitem, Ala, Lightfoot, Marguerita A.

2024

Overview

Background Deep-rooted racial residential segregation and housing discrimination have given rise to housing disparities among low-income Black young adults in the US. Most studies have focused on single dimensions of housing instability, and thus provide a partial view of how Black young adults experience multiple, and perhaps overlapping, experiences of housing instability including homelessness, frequent moves, unaffordability, or evictions. We aimed to illuminate the multiple forms of housing instability that Black young adults contend with and examine relationships between housing instability and mental health outcomes. Methods Using baseline data from the Black Economic Equity Movement (BEEM) guaranteed income trial with 300 urban low-income Black young adults (aged 18–24), we conducted a three-stage latent class analysis using nine housing instability indicators. We identified distinct patterns by using fit indices and theory to determine the optimal number of latent classes. We then used multinomial logistic regression to identify subpopulations disproportionately represented within unstable housing patterns. Finally, we estimated associations between housing experience patterns and mental health outcomes: depression, anxiety, and hope. Results We found high prevalence of housing instability with 27.3% of participants reporting experiences of homelessness in the prior year and 39.0% of participants reporting multiple measures of housing instability. We found the 4-class solution to be the best fitting model for the data based on fit indices and theory. Latent classes were characterized as four housing experience patterns: 1) more stably housed, 2) unaffordable and overcrowded housing, 3) mainly unhoused, and 4) multiple dimensions of housing instability. Those experiencing unaffordable and overcrowded housing and being mainly unhoused were more than four times as likely to have symptoms of depression (Unaffordable: aOR = 4.57, 95% CI: 1.64, 12.72; Unhoused: aOR = 4.67, 95% CI:1.18, 18.48) and more than twice as likely to report anxiety (Unaffordable: aOR = 2.28, 95% CI: 1.03, 5.04; Unhoused: aOR = 3.36, 95% CI: 1.12, 10.05) compared to the more stably housed pattern. We found that hope scores were similarly high across patterns. Conclusions High prevalence of housing instability and mental health challenges among low-income Black young adults demands tailored interventions to reduce instability, given widening racial disparities and implications for future well-being into adulthood.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Adolescent / Adults / Affordable housing / Analysis / Anxiety / Biostatistics / Black or African American - psychology / Black or African American - statistics & numerical data / Black people / California - epidemiology / Child & adolescent mental health / Data / Demographic aspects / Depression / Discrimination / Dwellings / Economic aspects / Economic equity / Environmental Health / Epidemiology / Evictions / Experience / Female / Health aspects / Health disparities / Health status / Home ownership / Homeless people / Homelessness / Households / Housing / Housing - statistics & numerical data / Housing as a determinant of health and well-being / Housing discrimination / Housing instability / Humans / Ill-Housed Persons - psychology / Ill-Housed Persons - statistics & numerical data / Income / Indexes / Inequality / Instability / Latent class analysis / Low income groups / Low income housing credit / Male / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Mental depression / Mental disorders / Mental health / Mental Health - statistics & numerical data / Mobile commerce / Political representation / Poverty / Psychological aspects / Public Health / Race factors / Racial differences / Racial inequality / Racial segregation / Residential patterns / Residential segregation / Segregation / Social aspects / Social discrimination / Stability / Subpopulations / Systemic racism / Urban areas / Urban poor / Urban Population - statistics & numerical data / Vaccine / Well being / Working groups / Young Adult / Young adults