UC researcher's study finds link between childhood trauma, homelessness

Experiencing hardships including domestic violence, discrimination, high levels of violent crime in a community or chronic poverty as a child could make a person more likely to become homeless. The more adverse childhood experiences that a person has, the higher the risk could be. That's according to research from Edson Chipalo, PhD, an assistant professor in the University of Cincinnati's College of Allied Health Sciences.

The study was published recently in the journal Child Indicators Research. 91.7 WVXU News recently featured Chipalo's work.

Chipalo looked at data from roughly 1,000 people who have experienced homelessness and were tracked by the National Survey of Children's Health. Many of those individuals had experienced several adverse childhood experiences, often called ACEs. 

"The more ACEs a child experienced, the more likely they are to be homeless," said Chipalo.

The study controlled for nine factors, including socioeconomic status, geography and parental employment. It considered the biological, social and psychological impacts of nine categories of trauma on people younger than 18. 

Chipalo said his findings add to a growing body of evidence that could help guide both government policy and therapeutic approaches to addressing trauma. He said prevention of the kinds of trauma he studied and early intervention after trauma has been experienced are key. 

"We want the practitioners who are working with those children who have experienced adverse experiences as well as homelessness to understand these issues," he said. "How can we improve their practice?" 

Chipalo will present his research at several conferences this summer.

Read what Chipalo told 91.7 WVXU News about his new project to collect data from refugees and immigrants who came to Greater Cincinnati from African nations — and how he plans to apply his research to those communities.

Featured image at top: A homeless tent camp in West Hollywood, California. Photo/iStock/welcomia.