Content area
Full text
1. Introduction
Youth experiencing homelessness (YEH) are exposed to a wide range of risk factors and vulnerabilities. Research indicates a greater frequency and severity of mental health problems among this population than in their housed peers (Pedersen et al., 2018) as well as psychological trauma such as abuse, violence, and sexual victimization (Keeshin and Campbell, 2011).
Studies show that YEHs engage in substantially higher levels of substance use compared to housed youth (Moore et al., 2019; Tabar et al., 2020). In total, 69% of YEH meet the criteria for dependence on at least one substance compared to 1.8% of all US adolescents (Baer et al., 2003); 75% of YEH have reported marijuana use, 25% have reported crack use, and 32% have reported using stimulants (Baer et al., 2003; Bousman et al., 2005; Greene et al., 1997; Hadland et al., 2011; Narendorf et al., 2017). These high rates are concerning as substance use is associated with a range of adverse outcomes, including longer episodes of homelessness, physical and sexual victimization, and physical and mental health issues (Bender et al., 2015; Santa Maria et al., 2018). Reducing YEH's substance abuse problems is a critical first step in assisting this marginalized population in overcoming the challenges they encounter.
Although place-based interventions can help the treatment of substance use among YEH (e.g. Xiang, 2013), YEH are typically hesitant to seek help from traditional health practitioners (Barman-Adhikari and Rice, 2011), owing to an inherent skepticism of formal service systems (Hudson et al., 2010). Therefore, other engagement and monitoring measures should be explored.
Studies find that 80% of YEH report using social media weekly (Pollio et al., 2013). One reason for this reliance on social media is that YEH usually lack stable phone and address to maintain social connections. Another reason is that these sites provide users the opportunity to obtain online and offline social capital (Huang et al., 2021), a resource that YEH need for improved outcomes (Barman-Adhikari et al., 2016a). As a result, YEH exchange information, opinions, and feelings on social media sites, leaving valuable digital trace data. Such data represent a novel venue for gaining a better understanding of YEH's social world and...