IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v69y2023i5p1145-1156.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of depression and anxiety in homeless people: A population survey of homeless people in Hong Kong

Author

Listed:
  • Siu-Ming Chan
  • Hung Wong
  • Yikang Chen
  • Mun-Yu Vera Tang

Abstract

Background: There are growing concerns about the homeless and mental health issues globally. This study aims to examine the mental health situation of homelessness and the determinants of anxiety and depression of them in Hong Kong. Method: The data from the largest territory-wide study of the homeless population in 2021 was analyzed. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were used to investigate the association between mental health and socioeconomic variables, including demographic background, economic indicators, COVID-19 worries, government measures, and respect by others. The symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) and General Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Results: The results showed that being female, food insecurity, and chronic diseases were the risk factors for anxiety and depression. A high level of respect by others was the protective factor for depression (adjusted OR 0.37, 95% CI [0.23, 0.61]) and anxiety (adjusted OR 0.40, 95% CI [0.24, 0.68]), compared to a low level of respect in the multivariate model. Conclusions: Providing medical outreach services, additional resources for social services, implementation of homeless-friendly policies, and a progressive supply of public and transitional housing would help enhance the well-being of the homeless population

Suggested Citation

  • Siu-Ming Chan & Hung Wong & Yikang Chen & Mun-Yu Vera Tang, 2023. "Determinants of depression and anxiety in homeless people: A population survey of homeless people in Hong Kong," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(5), pages 1145-1156, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:69:y:2023:i:5:p:1145-1156
    DOI: 10.1177/00207640231152208
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00207640231152208
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00207640231152208?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jionghua Wang & Bo Huang & Ting Zhang & Hung Wong & Yifan Huang, 2018. "Impact of Housing and Community Conditions on Multidimensional Health among Middle- and Low-Income Groups in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-14, May.
    2. Kidder, D.P. & Wolitski, R.J. & Campsmith, M.L. & Nakamura, G.V., 2007. "Health status, health care use, medication use, and medication adherence among homeless and housed people living with HIV/AIDS," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(12), pages 2238-2245.
    3. Perron, Brian Edward & Alexander-Eitzman, Ben & Gillespie, David F. & Pollio, David, 2008. "Modeling the mental health effects of victimization among homeless persons," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1475-1479, November.
    4. Carmen Martin & Pilar Andrés & Alberto Bullón & José Luis Villegas & Javier Ignacio de la Iglesia-Larrad & Berta Bote & Nieves Prieto & Carlos Roncero, 2021. "COVID pandemic as an opportunity for improving mental health treatments of the homeless people," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 67(4), pages 335-343, June.
    5. Siu Ming Chan & Hung Wong, 2022. "Housing and Subjective Well-Being in Hong Kong: A Structural Equation Model," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1745-1766, June.
    6. Vincent A. Fusaro & Helen G. Levy & H. Luke Shaefer, 2018. "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Lifetime Prevalence of Homelessness in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2119-2128, December.
    7. Chenhong Peng & Lue Fang & Julia Shu-Huah Wang & Yik Wa Law & Yi Zhang & Paul S. F. Yip, 2019. "Determinants of Poverty and Their Variation Across the Poverty Spectrum: Evidence from Hong Kong, a High-Income Society with a High Poverty Level," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 219-250, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alberton, Amy M. & Angell, G. Brent & Gorey, Kevin M. & Grenier, Stéphane, 2020. "Homelessness among Indigenous peoples in Canada: The impacts of child welfare involvement and educational achievement," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    2. Chei Bukari & Millicent Abigail Aning-Agyei & Christian Kyeremeh & Gloria Essilfie & Kofi Fosu Amuquandoh & Anthony Akwesi Owusu & Isaac Christopher Otoo & Kpanja Ibrahim Bukari, 2022. "Effect of COVID-19 on Household Food Insecurity and Poverty: Evidence from Ghana," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 991-1015, February.
    3. Ting Zhang & Bo Huang & Hung Wong & Samuel Yeung-shan Wong & Roger Yat-Nork Chung, 2022. "Public Rental Housing and Obesogenic Behaviors among Adults in Hong Kong: Mediator Role of Food and Physical Activity Environment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-14, March.
    4. Lijian Xie & Suhong Zhou & Lin Zhang, 2021. "Associations between Objective and Subjective Housing Status with Individual Mental Health in Guangzhou, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-14, January.
    5. Ashley C. Bradford & Johanna Catherine Maclean, 2024. "Evictions and psychiatric treatment," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(1), pages 87-125, January.
    6. Devin Q. Rutan & Matthew Desmond, 2021. "The Concentrated Geography of Eviction," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 693(1), pages 64-81, January.
    7. Pilar Andrés-Olivera & Judit García-Aparicio & María Teresa Lozano López & José Antonio Benito Sánchez & Carmen Martín & Ana Maciá-Casas & Armando González-Sánchez & Miguel Marcos & Carlos Roncero, 2022. "Impact on Sleep Quality, Mood, Anxiety, and Personal Satisfaction of Doctors Assigned to COVID-19 Units," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-15, February.
    8. Sahar S. Eshtehardi & Ashley A. Taylor & Tzuan A. Chen & Marcel A. de Dios & Virmarie Correa-Fernández & Darla E. Kendzor & Michael S. Businelle & Lorraine R. Reitzel, 2021. "Sociodemographic Determinants of Nonadherence to Depression and Anxiety Medication among Individuals Experiencing Homelessness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-13, July.
    9. Earl James Edwards, 2021. "Who Are the Homeless? Centering Anti-Black Racism and the Consequences of Colorblind Homeless Policies," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, September.
    10. James O'Donnell, 2020. "Estimating annual rates of homelessness," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(1), pages 1-34.
    11. Barrett A. Lee & Marybeth Shinn & Dennis P. Culhane, 2021. "Homelessness as a Moving Target," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 693(1), pages 8-26, January.
    12. Susana HERRERO-OLARTE & Mateo LOAIZA, 2021. "Structural Or Conjunctural Changes To Reduce Poverty In Ecuador?," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 21(2), pages 19-36.
    13. Manuel Reiriz & Macarena Donoso-González & Benjamín Rodríguez-Expósito & Sara Uceda & Ana Isabel Beltrán-Velasco, 2023. "Impact of COVID-19 Confinement on Mental Health in Youth and Vulnerable Populations: An Extensive Narrative Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-21, February.
    14. Julia Corey & James Lyons & Austin O’Carroll & Richie Stafford & Jo-Hanna Ivers, 2022. "A Scoping Review of the Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Persons Experiencing Homelessness in North America and Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-30, March.
    15. Yuzheng Zhang & Shirui He, 2023. "Local Government’s Land Finance Dependence and Migrants’ Settlement Intentions: Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-16, July.
    16. Keene, Danya E. & Guo, Monica & Murillo, Sascha, 2018. "“That wasn't really a place to worry about diabetes”: Housing access and diabetes self-management among low-income adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 71-77.
    17. Robert Schoen, 2020. "Dynamic Multistate Models With Constant Cross-Product Ratios: Applications to Poverty Status," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(2), pages 779-797, April.
    18. Sun, Shufang & Crooks, Natasha & Kemnitz, Rebecca & Westergaard, Ryan P., 2018. "Re-entry experiences of Black men living with HIV/AIDS after release from prison: Intersectionality and implications for care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 78-86.
    19. Mejia-Lancheros, Cilia & Lachaud, James & Woodhall-Melnik, Julia & O'Campo, Patricia & Hwang, Stephen W. & Stergiopoulos, Vicky, 2021. "Longitudinal interrelationships of mental health discrimination and stigma with housing and well-being outcomes in adults with mental illness and recent experience of homelessness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    20. April Jackson & Bridget Callea & Nicholas Stampar & Abigail Sanders & Alberto De Los Rios & Jake Pierce, 2020. "Exploring Tiny Homes as an Affordable Housing Strategy to Ameliorate Homelessness: A Case Study of the Dwellings in Tallahassee, FL," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-22, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:69:y:2023:i:5:p:1145-1156. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.