Demographic and clinical correlates of homelessness among African Americans with severe mental illness.

The purpose of the present study is to compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of African Americans with and without an immediate history of homelessness upon entry into a state psychiatric hospital. Four variables made statistically significant contributions to the logit model predicting homelessness with the other variables controlled. They were never being married, lifetime comorbid substance abuse, severe paranoia, and high self-esteem. The four significant predictors from the logit model were used to assign patients to different risk groups. There was a significant dose-response relationship between the percentage of cases of homelessness and the number of these risk indicators.