This article provides an overview of several core theoretical and practical aspects of participatory action research (PAR). An effort is made to define PAR and the types of work that fall under that rubric. Historical underpinnings, roles of the individuals involved, contexts, methods, and the challenges and benefits of this mode of inquiry are discussed. The authors argue that the approach and mindset of the researcher, referred to here as a type of "attitude," are key in the development of a successful and genuine participatory process. The authors situate PAR methodology within psychology and, more specifically, propose it as an approach to knowing that has the potential to make significant contributions in areas relevant to counseling psychology.

This study examined the protective role of self-esteem, social involvement, and secure attachment among homeless youths. These protective factors were examined as they ameliorate risks among 208 homeless youths surveyed in New York City and Toronto. Both mental and physical health indicators were employed in this study, including loneliness, feeling trapped, suicidal ideation, subjective health status, and substance use. Self-esteem emerged as a key protective factor, predicting levels of loneliness, feeling trapped, and suicide ideation, and buffering against the deleterious effect of fearful attachment on loneliness. Findings highlight the role of the self-concept in risk and resilience among homeless youth.

Building upon previous exploratory qualitative research (Kidd SA (2003) Child Adol Social Work J 20(4):235-261), this paper examines the mental health implications of social stigma as it is experienced by homeless youth. Surveys conducted with 208 youths on the streets and in agencies in New York City and Toronto revealed significant associations between perceived stigma due to homeless status and sexual orientation, pan handling and sex trade involvement, and amount of time homeless. Higher perceived stigma was also related to low self esteem, loneliness, feeling trapped, and suicidal ideation, with guilt/self-blame due to homeless status having the strongest impact on mental health variables.

Presented in this paper are the results of a qualitative analysis of the narratives of 208 homeless youth interviewed on streets and in agencies in

An ecological developmental model of adolescent suicidality was used to inform a hierarchical logistic regression analysis of longitudinal interactions between parent, peer, and school relations and suicide attempts. Reanalyzing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, it was found that parent relations were the most consistent protective factor, and among boys with prior suicide attempts, school relations augmented the effects of parent relations when peer relations were low. Results indicated the need to understand suicidal behavior as a component of interactive social processes in the design of clinical interventions.

This study examined the impact of coping strategies employed by homeless youth upon suicidal ideation, suicide attempts on the streets, and feeling trapped/helpless. Coping strategies examined in the analysis included problem‐focused and avoidant coping, along with several coping strategies identified in previous exploratory qualitative studies. Greater risk was associated with avoidant coping, social withdrawal, use of drugs and alcohol as coping, with “belief in a better future” linked to lowered risk levels. Gender interactions emerged with respect to avoidant coping and social withdrawal, both of which served as greater contributors to risk levels among females. Several approaches to coping including problem‐focused strategies and strategies identified by youths in previous qualitative works emerged as not serving to ameliorate suicidality.

Despite housing stability being a key concept in housing and homelessness policy, research, and service provision, it remains poorly defined and conceptualized, and to date there are no standard measures. We use in‐depth qualitative interviews with 51 young people transitioning away homelessness over the course of a year to examine the core dimensions of housing stability. Due to the potential for sudden change, we define housing stability as the extent to which an individual's customary access to housing of reasonable quality is secure. We define housing security among 8 main dimensions: housing type, recent housing history, current housing tenure, financial status, standing in the legal system, education and employment status, harmful substance use, and subjective assessments of housing satisfaction and stability. Based on these dimensions, we suggest a brief 13‐question scale that measures housing security.

The acceptance of qualitative research in 15 journals published and distributed by the American Psychological Association (APA) was investigated. This investigation included a PsycINFO search using the keyword qualitative, an analysis of 15 APA journals for frequency of qualitative publication, a content analysis of the journal descriptions, and the results of qualitative interviews with 10 of the chief editors of those journals. The results indicate that there exists a substantial amount of interest in the potential contribution of qualitative methods in major psychological journals, although this interest is not ubiquitous, well defined, or communicated. These findings highlight the need for APA to state its position regarding the applicability of qualitative methods in the study of psychology.