Background: Homeless youth are at risk for many adverse outcomes, including poor physical health, traumatic experiences, victimization, poor academic achievement, cognitive deficits,... Show moreBackground: Homeless youth are at risk for many adverse outcomes, including poor physical health, traumatic experiences, victimization, poor academic achievement, cognitive deficits, psychopathology, and substance use. Research demonstrates that these individuals engage in substantial disruptive behavior (e.g., stealing, dealing drugs, breaking and entering, engaging in prostitution), which further increases their risk of negative outcomes. Individual factors, including innate temperament and executive functioning skills have been shown to relate to one another and be independently related to behavior problems, as evidenced by research investigating housed youth. Homeless youth are shown to exhibit poor effortful control, high distress, executive dysfunction, and substance abuse; factors of which have not been fully examined in relationship to persistent behavior problems as reflected in antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Study Aim: The current study evaluated the association between temperament, executive functioning, and substance use disorders in their relation to the likelihood of meeting criteria for ASPD among homeless youth (ages 18-22). It was hypothesized that these variables would significantly relate to meeting criteria for ASPD in this population. Procedure: 87 homeless individuals (mean age = 19.27) who were residing at a homeless shelter at the time of the study (in Chicago or Los Angeles) participated over the course of two testing sessions. Each individual completed measures of ASPD and substance use disorders (MINI), temperament (ATQ), and executive functioning (D-KEFS), among other measures that are part of a larger studying conducted at University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC). Results: Results suggested that temperament (specifically effortful control) executive dysfunction (specifically cognitive shifting), and substance use disorder (specifically substance abuse) were significantly related to the likelihood of a homeless individual meeting criteria for ASPD. Youth who showed poorer effortful control, better ability to shift attention between sets of information, and substance abuse were at a greater likelihood of meeting criteria for ASPD. Conclusions: These findings indicate that aspects of temperament, specific executive skills, and substance abuse are important variables in determining the likelihood of ASPD among a population of homeless individuals. Clinical implications, limitations, and suggestions for interventions are discussed. Show less
