TY - JOUR
T1 - Do peer social relationships mediate the harmful effects of a housing mobility experiment on boys' risky behaviors?
AU - Schmidt, Nicole M.
AU - Thyden, Naomi Harada
AU - Kim, Huiyun
AU - Osypuk, Theresa L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand why a housing mobility experiment caused harmful effects on adolescent boys' risky behaviors. Methods: Moving to Opportunity (MTO) (1994–2010) randomly assigned volunteer families to a treatment group receiving a Section 8 rental voucher or a public housing control group. Our outcome was a global risky behavior index (RBI; measured in 2002, n = 750 boys) measuring the fraction of 10 items the youth engaged in, 6 measuring past 30-day substance use and 4 measuring recent risky sexual behavior. Potential mediators (measured in 2002) included peer social relationships (e.g., peer drug use, peer gang membership). Results: The voucher treatment main effect on boys' RBI was harmful (B (SE) = 0.05 (0.02), 95% CI 0.01, 0.08), and treatment marginally increased having friends who used drugs compared to controls (B (SE) = 0.67 (0.23), 95% CI 0.22, 1.12). Having friends who used drugs marginally mediated the MTO treatment effect on RBI (indirect effect: B (SE) = 0.02(.01), 95% CI −0.002, 0.04), reducing the total treatment effect by 39%. Conclusions: Incorporating additional supports into housing voucher programs may help support teenage boys who experience disruptions to their social networks, to buffer potential adverse consequences of residential mobility.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand why a housing mobility experiment caused harmful effects on adolescent boys' risky behaviors. Methods: Moving to Opportunity (MTO) (1994–2010) randomly assigned volunteer families to a treatment group receiving a Section 8 rental voucher or a public housing control group. Our outcome was a global risky behavior index (RBI; measured in 2002, n = 750 boys) measuring the fraction of 10 items the youth engaged in, 6 measuring past 30-day substance use and 4 measuring recent risky sexual behavior. Potential mediators (measured in 2002) included peer social relationships (e.g., peer drug use, peer gang membership). Results: The voucher treatment main effect on boys' RBI was harmful (B (SE) = 0.05 (0.02), 95% CI 0.01, 0.08), and treatment marginally increased having friends who used drugs compared to controls (B (SE) = 0.67 (0.23), 95% CI 0.22, 1.12). Having friends who used drugs marginally mediated the MTO treatment effect on RBI (indirect effect: B (SE) = 0.02(.01), 95% CI −0.002, 0.04), reducing the total treatment effect by 39%. Conclusions: Incorporating additional supports into housing voucher programs may help support teenage boys who experience disruptions to their social networks, to buffer potential adverse consequences of residential mobility.
KW - Adolescence
KW - Mediation
KW - Mobility
KW - Peers
KW - Public housing
KW - Randomized controlled trial
KW - Risky behaviors
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U2 - 10.1016/j.annepidem.2020.05.007
DO - 10.1016/j.annepidem.2020.05.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 32651047
AN - SCOPUS:85087709841
SN - 1047-2797
VL - 48
SP - 36-42.e3
JO - Annals of epidemiology
JF - Annals of epidemiology
ER -