Assessing anxiety and depression trajectories among single homeless adults receiving rapid rehousing following placement in housing

Abstract

Despite growing international interest in using rapid rehousing (RRH) to address homelessness, there is little information about the mental health outcomes of RRH participants. We examined changes in anxiety and depression symptoms over time following placement in housing among a cohort of 98 single homeless adults receiving RRH services from a major city in the United States. We also assessed the extent to which sociodemographic characteristics, and factors related to RRH participants’ ability to maintain independent housing, were associated with the trajectory of change in anxiety and depression symptoms. We found statistically significant linear decreases in both anxiety and depression symptoms. Factors identified as having the strongest association with changes in anxiety and depression symptoms over time included age, race, monthly income, having a poor credit history as a barrier to housing and reporting that a mental health problem made it difficult to live on one’s own. Our findings suggest that the benefits of RRH may extend beyond improved housing stability and point to the need for additional and more rigorous research to test the impact of RRH on mental health outcomes.

Keywords:

• Rapid rehousing
• homelessness
• mental health
• anxiety
• depression

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Pine Street Inn, MA.

Notes on contributors

Thomas Byrne

Thomas Byrne, PhD is an Associate Professor at the Boston University School of Social Work.

Deborah Chassler

Deborah Chassler, MSW is a Senior Academic Researcher at the Boston University School of Social Work.

Mohit Tamta

Mohit Tamta is doctoral candidate at the Boston University School of Social Work.

Jordana Muroff

Jordana Muroff is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Clinical Practice Department at the Boston University School of Social Work.

Roxanne Anderson

Roxanne Anderson, is currently a Special Projects Coordinator for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. At the time this research was conducted, she was an MSW student at the Boston University School of Social Work.

Matan BenYishay

Matan BenYishay is the Director of Program Evaluation at Pine Street Inn.

Angela Giordano

Angela Giordano is the Director of Triage and Rapid Re-Housing at Pine Street Inn.

Elizabeth Hestad

Elizabeth Hestad is a Program Evaluator at Pine Street Inn.