Development and validation of the housing instability scale

Figures & data

Table 1. Questions and response options for the housing instability scale.

	Items in English	Items in Spanish	Response codes in English*	Response codes in Spanish*
1	In the last 6 months, have you had to live somewhere that you did not want to live?	En los últimos 6 meses, ¿ha tenido que vivir en algún lugar que no quisiera vivir?	0 = no 1 = yes	0 = no 1 = sí
2	Do you expect to stay in your current housing for the next 6 months?**	¿Espera permanecer en su vivienda actual durante los próximos 6 meses?**	0 = yes 1 = no/don't know	0 = sí 1 = no/ no sé
3	In the last 6 months, have you been homeless or had to live with family or friends to avoid homelessness?	En los últimos 6 meses, ¿ha estado sin hogar o ha tenido que vivir con su familia o amigos para evitar quedarse sin hogar?	0 = no 1 = yes	0 = no 1 = sí
4	In the last 6 months, have you had difficulty paying (or were you unable to pay) for housing?	En los últimos 6 meses, ¿ha tenido dificultades para pagar (o no pudo pagar) por su vivienda?	0 = no 1 = yes	0 = no 1 = sí
5	In the last 6 months, have you had trouble getting housing?	En los últimos 6 meses, ¿ha tenido tenido problemas para conseguir vivienda?	0 = no 1 = yes	0 = no 1 = sí
6	How many times have you moved in the last 6 months?	¿Cuántas veces se ha mudado en los últimos 6 meses?	0 = 0-2 moves 1 = 3 or more moves	0 = 0-2 mudanzas 1 = 3 o más mudanzas
7	How likely is it, do you think, that you will be able to pay for your housing (e.g. rent/mortgage) this month?**	¿Qué tan probable cree que es que usted pueda pagar su vivienda (por ejemplo, alquiler o crédito hipotecario) este mes?**	0 = likely, very likely 1 = very unlikely, unlikely	0 = muy probable, probable 1 = muy poco probable, poco probable

*Higher scores indicate higher housing instability.

**Original response options are reverse coded.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics and correlations for housing instability scale scores.

Variable	n	M^a	SD	1	2	3	4	5
1. Housing Instability at Baseline	406	4.78	1.67	–
2. Housing Instability at 6 months	373	3.42	2.04	.428**	–
3. Housing Instability at 12 months	366	2.41	2.09	.317**	.580**	–
4. Housing Instability at 18 months	358	2.08	1.98	.243**	.420**	.539**	–
5. Housing Instability at 24 months	362	1.69	1.91	.235**	.324**	.383**	.557**	–

**p < 0.01.

^a Range for mean HIS score is from 0 to 7.