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Social support, hope, and life satisfaction among youth living in a transitional housing program in British Columbia

University of British Columbia

Youth homelessness is a pervasive and complex issue that affects the lives of at least 35,000 to 40,000 Canadian youth each year (Gaetz, Dej, Richter, & Redman, 2016). These youths are often chronically exposed to some of the most significant contributors to unhealthy development and simultaneously lack the most significant contributors to healthy development. The unique context of youth homelessness has prompted the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, along with select Canadian provinces, to identify these youth as a priority group requiring targeted strategies to address their needs (Gaetz et al., 2016). Researchers have recently increased efforts to examine the protective factors that youth who are homeless possess and utilize to overcome adversity, including social support. However, the majority of existing research has been done with youth who live on the streets or in short-term crisis shelter programs. A deeper understanding of the subpopulations within youth homelessness, such as those staying in transitional housing programs, is necessary to inform local, provincial/territorial, and national efforts to develop sustainable and effective strategies that address their distinct set of needs and strengths (Gaetz et al., 2016). The purpose of the present study was to explore the perceived social support, hope, life satisfaction, and experiences of youth living in a shelter-based transitional housing program in an urban area in British Columbia (BC). Eight participants completed questionnaires about social support, hope, and life satisfaction. In addition, seven of the participants completed semi-structured interviews about their experiences with homelessness and in their current program specifically. Moderate to large positive relationships were found between most types of social support and life satisfaction, as well as between hope and life satisfaction. A qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews identified two themes and nine categories related to the transitional housing program structure and the various forms of support provided through this program. The implications of these findings and considerations for future research with homeless youth populations are discussed.

Text

2019-10-22

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/72030

School Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/