Determinants of social status among homeless adults.

OBJECTIVES

To examine determinants of subjective social status (SSS) among 394 sheltered homeless adults.

METHODS

Demographics, socioeconomic status, homelessness, and other life factors were examined as potential determinants of US and Community SSS using parametric tests.

RESULTS

Higher income, African-American/other race, having health insurance, being employed, having longer duration of homelessness, having children, and being of non-veteran status were each significantly associated with higher SSS-US. African-American/ other race and having health insurance were significantly associated with higher community SSS. Variables maintained significance in multivariate models except homelessness duration (for SSS-US).

CONCLUSIONS

Given known relations of SSS and negative health behaviors and outcomes, understanding the correlates of SSS among homeless adults may facilitate targeted interventions.