Stressful life events among homeless people in León (Nicaragua): quantity, types, timing, and perceived causality

Abstract

Nicaragua is one of the countries with the lowest levels of development in Latin America, where there is a lack of data on homeless people, a group that is stigmatised and lives in a situation of extreme poverty. The study examines the quantity, types, timing, and perceived causality of stressful life events (SLE) experienced during childhood and adolescence, and throughout their adult lives, by homeless people in the city of León (Nicaragua) (n = 41). A structured interview was used to collect the data. The findings showed that the homeless people interviewed in León had experienced a high number of SLE, of extreme severity and at very early ages. Most of these SLE occurred before they first became homeless. In terms of the perceived causal relationship between SLE and their homelessness, the interviewees mainly attributed being homeless to material factors, affective or relationship factors, or to an excessive consumption of alcohol and/or drugs. Suffering from multiple and serious SLE, largely as a result of living in socioeconomically disadvantaged environments, appears to be an important vulnerability factor both in becoming homeless and in this homelessness becoming chronic