Sequential Progression of Substance Use Among Homeless Youth: An Empirical Investigation of the Gateway Theory

Abstract

We examined the sequence of substance-use initiation in 375 street youth (age 13–21) who were interviewed from 1994–99 in Seattle, Washington. Based on the “gateway theory,” participants were categorized into six profiles to describe the order in which they initiated use of various substances (i.e., alcohol, marijuana, other drugs), or classified as nonprogressors if they had not tried all three classes of drugs. Youth progressing in the hypothesized gateway order (i.e., alcohol preceding marijuana, followed by other drugs) initiated their use at an earlier age than youth who had not progressed through all three substance classes. However, there was no relationship between a substance initiation profile and current substance-use. Implications include the recognition that street youth may follow different patterns of use than normative groups, and that interventions geared toward youth who use substances heavily must include contextual factors, in addition to substance-use history.

• Homelessness
• Adolescents
• Drug use
• Gateway theory
• Development

Notes

Although the literature seems to favor the term “homeless youth,” many people who work with this population refer to them as “street youth.” Because both terms are used commonly in different arenas, the authors of this paper use the terms interchangeably.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joshua Aaron Ginzler

Joshua Aaron Ginzler, Ph.D., is a research scientist at the University of Washington, Seattle with the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute. He is an applied developmentalist who earned his degree at Bowling Green State University. His interests are in adolescent risk and specifically working with substance abuse and treatment of substance abuse. Dr. Ginzler was a postdoctoral fellow with the Addictive Behaviors Research Center (Dr. G. Alan Marlatt, Director) while working with Dr. Cauce on the current study. Currently, he is a coinvestigator and project director for an NIAAA-funded study examining the effectiveness of Motivational Interviewing with substance-abusing street youth.

Bryan N. Cochran

Bryan N. Cochran, M.S., is currently a fifth year doctoral student in clinical psychology at the University of Washington. He is interested in both the epidemiology and treatment of substance abuse, and in the provision of culturally appropriate services. His current work investigates outcomes of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) clients in substance-abuse treatment, and the ability of providers to meet the specific needs of the GLBT population.

Melanie Domenech-Rodríguez

Melanie Domenech-Rodríguez, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Utah State University. She earned her doctoral degree in Psychology from Colorado State University in 1999. Immediately following her clinical internship at the University of Washington, Dr. Domenech-Rodríguez was a postdoctoral fellow with the Family Research Consortium III, which emphasized the impact of race, ethnicity, and culture in family processes. Dr. Domenech-Rodríguez's research career has focused on ethnic minorities and has included the study of substance-use among adolescents, educational issues, media impact on behaviors, and acculturation. While continuing to investigate issues of substance-use among adolescents, Dr. Domenech-Rodríguez is also working on the development and delivery of parenting interventions to Spanish-speaking Latino families.

Ana Mari Cauce

Ana Mari Cauce, Ph.D., is a professor in American Ethnic Studies and the Earl Carlson Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington. At present, Cauce is also the director of the university's Honors program. Cauce has research interests that focus on both normative and nonnormative adolescent development, and she has conducted studies of homeless youth, ethnic minority youth, and other groups of youth who lack privilege in America. Most recently, Dr. Cauce, along with Dr. Leslie Whitbeck, has completed work on the Seattle Homeless Adolescent Research and Evaluation project, which was funded by NIAAA to study the effects of alcohol use and abuse in a homeless youth population.

Leslie B. Whitbeck

Leslie B. Whitbeck, Ph.D., is professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His research focus is adolescent risk and resilience. Along with Dr. Cauce, he is currently conducting a longitudinal study of homeless and runaway adolescents in four midwestern states. He also is principal investigator for longitudinal developmental study of 450 American Indian adolescents and their families in the upper Midwest.