Role of Social Environmental Protective Factors on Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms Among Midwestern Homeless Youth

We employ a social stress framework, which examines the influence of multiple stressors (e.g., physical abuse, foster care placement) on an individual's ability to function (e.g., mental well-being), to longitudinally examine the effects of stressful life events on mental health and the role of the social environment in this process among 150 homeless youth. Results revealed that numerous stressors, such as physical abuse and running away from home more frequently, were associated with greater depressive symptoms and elevated anxiety. Having mentors and family and friends from home that youth can rely on resulted in more positive social support, which subsequently lowered the risk for depressive symptoms and anxiety at wave 2.