Understanding the relationship between stress and trauma coping in relation to binge drinking among young adults experiencing homelessness: a path analysis.

Background

Young adults experiencing homelessness (YAEH) are especially vulnerable to binge drinking. YAEH experience traumatic experiences and ongoing stressors at higher rates than the general population.

Objective

This study aimed to explore whether YAEH's active (e.g. problem-solving) and avoidant (e.g. avoid the stressor) coping strategies serve as an intervening mechanism through which traumatic experiences and perceived stress associate with their binge drinking risks. Understanding this will provide critical insights for future interventions.Method: This study is a secondary analysis using self-administered survey data via a tablet collected from YAEH (N = 1,426) aged between 18 and 26, and from seven major cities in the US. A path analysis model was conducted to investigate the study's aim.

Results

Among this sample of YAEH, 59.4% were cisgender males, and 34% had engaged in binge drinking (N = 1,297). Avoidant coping was positively associated with increased binge drinking (β = 0.095, p < .001). Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) (β = 0.012, p < .001), street victimization (β = 0.081, p < .001), and perceived stress (β = 0.013, p < .001) all were found to have positive associations with YAEH's increased binge drinking through the mediator, avoidant coping. ACE, street victimization, and perceived stress all had positive associations with using active coping strategies. However, active coping did not mediate their relationships to binge drinking.

Conclusions

This study identified that avoidant coping mediated the relationships between ACE, street victimization, and perceived stress and binge drinking, while active coping did not. Our findings suggest the need to reduce avoidant coping mechanisms and support replacement behaviors aiming to reduce drinking among YAEH.