This report is an examination of a theoretical model of risk amplification within a sample of 255 homeless and runaway adolescents. The young people were interviewed on the streets and in shelters in urban centers of four Midwestern states. Separate models were examined for males (n = 102) and females (n = 153). Results indicated that street experiences such as affiliation with deviant peers, deviant subsistence strategies, risky sexual behaviors, and drug and/or alcohol use amplified the effects of early family abuse on victimization and depressive symptoms for young women. These street adaptations significantly increased the likelihood of serious victimization over and above the effects of early family history for both young men and women. Similarly, street behaviors and experiences increased the likelihood of depressive symptoms for young women over the effects of early family abuse, but not for young men. The risk‐amplification model from the life course theoretical perspective is discussed as an example of the cumulative continuity of maladaptive behaviors.

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This study used a high-risk population of runaway and homeless adolescents to investigate the effects of a history of caretaker abuse and deviant subsistence strategies on victimization among adolescents. Based on a multisite sample of 974 homeless and runaway adolescents, logistic regression models were used first to examine factors predicting involvement in sexual and nonsexual deviant subsistence strategies and then to investigate the effects of deviant subsistence strategies on physical and sexual victimization when adolescents were on the streets. Results indicated that when controlling for all other factors, including histories of physical and sexual maltreatment in families of origin, street behaviors, sexual orientation, and informal support systems, engaging in nonsexual deviant subsistence strategies increased the likelihood of physical victimization more than two times. Engaging in sexual deviant subsistence strategies increased the likelihood of sexual victimization almost four times. The results are interpreted in terms of life course developmental theory and lifestyle exposure theories.

This study examined correlates of suicidal ideation among 212 American Indian youth who lived on or near three reservations in the upper Midwestern United States. The youths were, on average, 12 years old, and 9.5% reported current thoughts about killing themselves. Females were over 2 times more likely than males to think about suicide. Multivariate logistic regression results indicated that gender, enculturation, negative life events, perceived discrimination, self-esteem, and drug use were related to the likelihood of thinking about suicide. Drug use was the strongest correlate of suicidal ideation, and both enculturation and perceived discrimination emerged as important culturally specific variables. It was suggested that suicide prevention programs should draw on the strengths of American Indian culture.

The present study documented the extent of gang involvement and gang membership in a sample of 602 homeless and runaway youth from four midwestern states. The study also compared gang members, gang-involved youth who were not members, and nongang youth on several dimensions including sociodemographic characteristics, family background, school experiences, street experiences and exposure, emotional problems, alcohol and drug use, and other delinquent and deviant behaviors. Findings indicated that a significant number of these youth were gang members (15.4% of the sample) or involved in gangs (32.2% of the sample). Youth gang members and gang-involved youth reported more family legal problems, had been suspended from school more, ran away at a younger age, used more alcohol and drugs, were exposed to more deviant peers, and attempted suicide more than did nongang youth. In addition, youth gang members reported less parental monitoring, more severe abuse, more street victimization, and more deviant subsistence strategies than did either gang-involved or noninvolved youth.

Problem -Various demographic and familial risk factors have been linked to runaway behavior. To date, there has not been a systematic investigation of the impact of size of community on runaway behavior. This study will compare runaways from smaller cities and rural areas to their urban counterparts. Methods -A convenience sample of 602 adolescents was interviewed between 1995 and August of 1996 in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, USA. Multiple regression was used to examine the association between gender, neglect, sexual abuse, physical abuse, geographic and family structure change, and community size of first runaway to predict age at first runaway, deviant subsistence strategies, and street victimization. Results -Findings indicate that adolescents exposed to neglect (β = −.20) and sexual abuse (β = −.16) ran away sooner and were more likely to be victimized on the street. Rural adolescents who experienced higher levels of physical abuse relied more heavily on deviant subsistence strategies (β = .15) and remained in abusive homes longer (β = .15) than their similarly situated urban counterparts. Conclusions -Rural youth who have been subjected to elevated levels of familial abuse are at greater risk of deviant subsistence strategies, which increase the likelihood of street victimization.

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