Longitudinal study of the housing and mental health outcomes of tenants appearing in eviction court
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Longitudinal study of the housing and mental health outcomes of tenants appearing in eviction court Jack Tsai1,2,3 · Natalie Jones3 · Dorota Szymkowiak1 · Robert A. Rosenheck1,3 Received: 14 March 2020 / Accepted: 1 September 2020 © This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2020
Abstract Purpose Millions of people are evicted from rental properties in the U.S. annually, but little is known about them and their mental health. This study followed a cohort of eviction court participants over time and assessed their housing and mental health outcomes. Methods One hundred and twenty-one tenants were recruited from an eviction court in New Haven, Connecticut, and their housing, mental health, and psychosocial status were assessed at baseline, 1, 3, 6, and 9 months following their encounter with the court. Inverse probability weighting was used for missing data. Results At baseline, 42% of participants had appeared in eviction court before, 28% had experienced eviction, and 44% had been previously homeless. In addition, 39% screened positive for generalized anxiety disorder, 37% for posttraumatic stress disorder, 33% for major depressive disorder, and 17% reported suicidal ideation. At follow-up, participants experienced increased days of housing instability and homelessness over time with some persistent mental health symptoms. Less than one-quarter of participants received any mental health treatment during the 9-month follow-up period. About 54% of participants followed reported that they had to change their residence after their court appearance consistent with court records. Participants who had an eviction-related move experienced greater housing instability over time than participants who did not. Conclusion Together, these findings suggest that there is a sizable subgroup of adults who present to eviction court with persistent housing and mental health issues who do not receive adequate assistance in addressing these issues. Keywords Homelessness · Evictions · Mental health · Housing
Introduction Each year in the United States, millions of people are evicted from rental properties due to non-payment of rent or some other lease violation. Evictions can have devastating effects on the lives of residents and their communities, and there are no clear solutions available for this problem [1]. As the cost of rents has risen, the availability of affordable housing * Jack Tsai [email protected] 1
National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Central Office, Tampa, FL, USA
2
School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, San Antonio Regional Campus, 7411 John Smith Drive, Suite 1100, San Antonio, TX 7822, USA
3
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
has shrunk particularly in metropolitan areas [2, 3], and the risk of eviction has increased. Evictions is often part of a cascade of negative persona
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