PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Jennifer A. Klahn

MA-Research
January 2002

Homelessness Among Out-of-Treatment Drug Users

    The current analyses were conducted to determine the reliability of measures of homelessness using multisite data (Study 1) and to predict homelessness from data collected over a 10-year time span (Study 2).  For Study 1, the Risk Behavior Assessment (RBA) was administered twice within a 48-hour period to determine test-retest reliability.  Cohen’s Kappa was calculated at .86 for the two measures of homelessness on the RBA.  For Study 2, a logistic regression model was built to predict homelessness from data collected over a 10-year time span.  Self-perception of homelessness and illegal income were risk factors in the model; number of times tested for HIV and Black ethnicity were considered protective against homelessness in the model.  Predictive accuracy was assessed with a reduced bias method approximating jackknifing techniques.  The results of these studies will inform future research with homeless individuals.

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