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Residential transience among US adolescents: association with depression and mental health treatment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2019

C. Glasheen*
Affiliation:
RTI International, Behavioral Health Research Division, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, Unites States of America
V. Forman-Hoffman
Affiliation:
RTI International, Behavioral Health Research Division, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, Unites States of America
S. Hedden
Affiliation:
RTI International, Behavioral Health Research Division, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, Unites States of America
T. Ridenour
Affiliation:
RTI International, Behavioral Health Research Division, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, Unites States of America
J. Wang
Affiliation:
RTI International, Behavioral Health Research Division, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, Unites States of America
J. Porter
Affiliation:
RTI International, Behavioral Health Research Division, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, Unites States of America
*
Author for correspondence: Cristie Glasheen, E-mail: cglasheen@rti.org
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Abstract

Aims

Residential instability, including transience (i.e. unusually frequent mobility), is associated with higher risk for emotional and behavioural problems in children and young adults. However, most studies have not compared the effect of recent v. more distal moves on mental health or on mental health treatment. This study examined associations between recent (past year) and distal (past 2–4 years) residential transience and past year major depressive episode (MDE) and mental health treatment in a nationally representative sample of US adolescents aged 12–17.

Methods

Data are from the 2010–2014 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (n = ~107 300 adolescents). T-tests were used to examine the prevalence of MDE by number of moves in the past 5 years among a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Additionally, multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate the adjusted association between recent (⩾2 moves in the past year) and distal (⩾4 moves in the past 5 years, but no recent transience) and (1) past year MDE and (2) past year mental health treatment among adolescents with MDE.

Results

MDE prevalence increased linearly with number of moves in the past 5 years (p < 0.001). The adjusted odds of MDE were greater among youths with distal transience (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.25, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09–1.44) and among those with proximal transience (AOR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.17–1.46), compared with those without transience in the past 5 years. The MDE prevalence did not differ between those with distal and proximal transience (p = 0.163). In youths with past year MDE, the prevalence of past year mental health treatment was greater among those with proximal transience compared with those without transience (AOR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.15–1.70), but there was no significant difference in treatment among those with distal v. no transience.

Conclusions

Distal and recent transience are associated with past year MDE among adolescents. Adolescents with MDE who had recent transience were more likely to receive past year mental health treatment compared with those without transience. However, those with only distal transience were not more likely to receive treatment. Parents, school officials and health care providers should be aware that residential mobility in the past 5 years may indicate increased odds of depression among adolescents even among adolescents whose housing stability has improved in the past year.

Information

Type
Original Articles
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019
Figure 0

Fig. 1. Number of moves and residential transience in the past 5 years among US adolescents aged 12–17: annual average percentages and standard errors. Source: SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, 2010–2014.

Figure 1

Table 1. Characteristics of adolescents aged 12–17, by past year residential transience status, annual averages: weighted N (in thousands), percentages and standard errors

Figure 2

Fig. 2. Prevalence of past year major depressive episode among US adolescents aged 12–17: annual average percentages and 95% confidence intervals. Source: SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, 2010–2014.

Figure 3

Table 2. Past year MDE and mental health treatment among adolescents aged 12–17: annual averages, adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI)

Figure 4

Fig. 3. Prevalence of past year mental health treatment among US adolescents aged 12–17 who had a past year major depressive episode: annual average percentages and 95% confidence intervals. Source: SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, 2010–2014.

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