The article describes a study carried out with a representative sample of homeless people in Madrid (Spain; N = 188). This study aims to corroborate the relationship identified in the literature between stressful life events and suicidal behaviour in a group in a situation of social exclusion, to assess the differences in the number and characteristics of stressful life events experienced by homeless people who are attempters and non‐attempters, and to identify which combination of stressful life events enables discrimination for suicide attempts among homeless people. The results show that 30% of homeless people in Madrid had attempted suicide, and 57.9% of them had done so for the first time when they were homeless. The interviewees are shown to have experienced a large amount of stressful life events, with substantially more stressors experienced by the homeless people who tried to commit suicide, during both their childhood and adolescence and throughout their life. Finally, we found that the combination of 7 stressful life events provided the best possible discrimination between homeless attempters and non‐attempters.

The article analyzes access to various information and communication technologies (ICTs; mobile phone, computer, Internet, e-mail, and

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Objectives.- To analyse the impact of different variables on repeated episodes of homelessness. Method.- The study was conducted based on data obtained from a representative sample of homeless people in Madrid (Spain) (n = 188). Results.- Suffering from a serious or chronic illness has an effect on the revolving door to homelessness, which is mediated by a highly negative subjective perception of the individual's own health, which is in turn mediated by suffering from a disability. Excessive alcohol consumption has an effect on the revolving door to homelessness, mediated by access to treatment for problems caused by alcohol consumption. Suffering from a serious or chronic illness correlates with having problems caused by excessive alcohol consumption. Experiencing multiple stressful life events has a direct effect on the revolving door to homelessness. Conclusions.- To prevent the revolving door to homelessness, it is necessary to remove the barriers that hinder access to normal health resources which are experienced by people suffering from social exclusion, while implementing ongoing support programmes for homeless people or those at risk of homelessness, which primarily deal with health issues.

ResumenEl trabajo analiza diferentes aspectos relacionados con la felicidad general manifestada por una muestra representativa de las personas sin hogar en Madrid (España), un colectivo de difícil acceso, fuertemente estigmatizado, que vive en situación de extrema pobreza. La muestra se encuentra compuesta por 235 personas sin hogar, mayores de edad, que la noche anterior a la realización de la entrevista habían pernoctado en un albergue para personas sin hogar, en la calle o en otros lugares no diseñados inicialmente para dormir, o que en el momento de la entrevista se encontraran en dispositivos de alojamiento supervisados para personas sin hogar. La información se recogió a través de una entrevista estructurada heteroaplicada. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que cerca de la mitad de las personas sin hogar en Madrid manifestaba ser feliz, observándose que los elementos que en mayor medida ayudan a predecir felicidad general entre las personas sin hogar fueron no sentirse solos o abandonados, no padecer discapacidad o minusvalía, no tener ninguna enfermedad grave o crónica, tener buenas expectativas de futuro, identificarse con alguna creencia religiosa y tener una percepción positiva del propio estado de salud.Palabras clave: personas sin hogar, felicidad general, Madrid. AbstractThis paper analyzes various aspects of overall happiness expressed by a representative sample of homeless people in Madrid (Spain). This group is difficult to access, heavily stigmatized, and lives in extreme poverty. The sample was composed of 235 homeless people, all adults, who had spent the night before the interview in a shelter for homeless people, on the street or in other places not initially designed for sleeping, or who were in supervised accommodation for homeless people at the time of the interview. Information was gathered using a heteroapplied structured interview. The results obtained show that around half of the homeless people in Madrid said that they were happy, while the factors that help to predict happiness to the greatest extent among homeless people were not feeling alone or abandoned, not suffering from any disability or handicap, not having any serious or chronic illness, having good expectations for the future, identifying with some sort of religious belief and having a positive perception of their state of health.