Initially homeless people in the Netherlands: housing status, prevalence of risk factors and changes in this prevalence 5.5 years after shelter entry

Figures & data

Figure 1. Study variables, grouped in the four constitutional conditions of the Social Quality Approach (Wolf & Jonker, 2020).

Table 1. Socio-demographic characteristics of all participants at T1 (n = 67–72).

	M (SD) / Range
Years of age	43.60 (13.12) / 24–74
	Mdn / Range
Life time duration of homelessness (months, at T0)	32.00 / 1.50–324.00
	n (%)
Gender (being male)	57 (79.2)
Stable housing	50 (69.4)
Having a partner	27 (37.5)
One or more children	41 (60.3)
Education level
Lowest education level	22 (32.8)
Low education level	22 (32.8)
Intermediate education level	16 (23.9)
High education level	7 (10.4)

Table 2. Prevalence of risk factors for homelessness and changes in this prevalence between shelter entry (T0) and 5.5 years later (T1) among the initially homeless people.

Constitutional conditions of social quality	n	T0 (%)	T1 (%)	p^a
Living conditions
Unemployment	72	75.0%	76.4%	1.0
Having debts	71	91.7%	57.7%	.00***
Not having enough money for … : (during past month)
Food	71	33.8%	23.6%	.28
Clothing	71	64.8%	61.1%	.84
Housing	70	38.6%	15.3%	.01**
Travel	72	43.1%	44.4%	1.0
Social activities	71	66.2%	52.8%	.14
Interpersonal embeddedness
Poor quality of relationships with:
Family members	66	52.2%	24.6%	.00***
Friends and acquaintances	63	18.2%	11.9%	.45
Partner	26	–	15.4%	–
Child(ren)	26	35.7%	22.2%	.22
Lack of support from:
Family members	70	70.0%	47.2%	.01**
Friends and acquaintances	72	51.4%	40.3%	.17
Partner	15	12.9%	7.4%	1.0
Societal embeddedness
Rejected at care facilities	72	–	19.4%	–
Unmet care needs:
Finances	71	11.3%	9.7%	1.0
Finding work	70	32.4%	22.5%	.33
Social contacts	70	9.9%	4.2%	.34
Physical health	72	25.0%	12.5%	.05*
Mental health	72	19.4%	9.7%	.17
Dental health	72	38.9%	16.7%	.00***
Arrested for criminal activity during past year	72	52.8%	12.5%	.00***
Self-regulation
Physical health problems (≥4)	71	35.2%	30.6.%	0.05*
Dissatisfaction with physical health	72	25.0%	26.4%	1.00
Psychological distress:
High level of depression	72	45.8%	43.1%	.85
High level of anxiety	72	37.5%	26.4%	.15
High level of somatization	72	45.8%	34.7%	.13
Excessive alcohol use	72	9.7%	8.3%	1.0
Excessive cannabis use	69	38.0%	34.4%	.80

^a McNemar test.

*p ≤ .05; **p ≤ .01; ***p ≤ .00.

Table 1. Background characteristics at T0 of the respondents and non-respondents at T1.

	Respondent at T1 (N = 72)	Non-respondent at T1 (N = 100)
	M (SD)	M (SD)	F (df)	p-value
Years of age	37.96	34.66	1.72 (168)	.19
Duration of homelessness (months)	50.74 (59.97)	41.06 (51.06)	.653 (166)	.42
Satisfaction with physical health	4.82 (1.95)	4.55 (1.65)	1.976 (1.68)	.16
Psychological distress:
Level of depression (BSI)	.90 (.98)	.80 (.89)	1.488 (123)	.23
Level of anxiety (BSI)	.73 (.91)	.72 (.76)	.180 (123)	.67
Level of somatization (BSI)	.60 (.75)	.57 (.76)	.43 (123)	.51
	Respondent at T1 (N = 72)	Non-respondent at T1 (N = 72)	Pearson chi-square	p-value
	n (%)	n (%)
Gender (being female)	14 (19.4%)	20 (20.4%)	0.024	.88
Married or in relationship	27 (34.7%)	30 (30.6%)	.320	.571
One or more children	37 (51.4%)	35 (35.7)	4.177	0.041*
First generation migrant	32 (44.4%)	49 (50%)	.514	.474
Second generation migrant	47 (67.1%)	74 (77.1%)	2.024	.155
Unemployed	24 (33.3%)	49 (50.0%)	4.706	.030*
Education level
Lowest education level	32 (45.7%)	38 (38.8%)	.947	.814
Low education level	21 (30.0%)	31 (31.6%)	.947	.814
Intermediate education level	9 (12.9%)	16 (16.3%)	.947	.814
High education level	8 (11.4%)	13 (13.3%)	.947	.814
Arrested for criminal activity during past year	34 (47.2%)	55 (57.3%)	1.675	.196
Excessive cannabis use	27(38.0%)	36 (36.7%)	.029	.864
Hard drugs use	16 (22.2%)	14 (14.0%)	1.965	.161

*p ≤ .05.

Wolf, R. L. M., & Jonker, I. E. (2020). Pathways to empowerment: The social quality approach as a foundation for person-centered interventions. The International Journal of Social Quality, 10(1), 29–56. https://doi.org/10.3167/IJSQ.2020.100103

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Data sharing and data availability statement

The dataset analyzed during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.