Development and validation of the housing instability scale

ABSTRACT

Despite increasing attention to the importance of examining factors that impact housing instability and homelessness, the field lacks a validated scale of housing instability. The current study examined the reliability and validity of a seven-item scale that measures housing instability. Data were taken from a larger study which implemented the Domestic Violence Housing First model across five domestic violence agencies in the Pacific Northwest. A total of 406 participants were interviewed every six months over a period of two years. A Spanish version of the scale was administered to Spanish-speaking participants. Results provide an overview of the psychometric functioning of the scale and support its utility in assessing housing instability and homelessness. Specifically, the scale demonstrated concurrent and predictive validity, and showed evidence of scalar equivalence over time and across both language and locality. The current scale is therefore a succinct and psychometrically sound measure of housing instability which can be used moving forward to track housing instability in English and Spanish speakers, as well as in urban and rural settings.

KEYWORDS:

• homelessness
• housing instability
• measurement
• scale development
• Spanish speakers

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a subcontract from the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who received funding through a contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in partnership with the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime [contract #HHSP233201600070C], and by a grant from the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who received funding from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation [#OPP1117416]. Danielle Chiaramonte’s contribution to this project was partially supported by the National Institute of Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health [T32DA019426]. Points of view do not necessarily represent the position or policies of the funders.

Notes on contributors

Adam Farero

Adam Farero is an Assistant Research Scientist at the Research for Indigenous Social Action and Equity (RISE) Center at the University of Michigan. He is experienced in research involving trauma and post-traumatic growth in at-risk and underserved populations. His current work is dedicated to combatting systemic racism against Indigenous Peoples through research that empowers Indigenous voices and leads to social action.

Cris M. Sullivan

Cris M. Sullivan is a Professor of Ecological/Community Psychology and Director of the Research Consortium on Gender-Based Violence at Michigan State University. She has been an advocate and researcher in the movement to end gender-based violence since 1982. Her areas of expertise include developing and rigorously evaluating community interventions for abuse survivors and their children, and evaluating victim services.

Gabriela López-Zerón

Gabriela López-Zerón is a Research Associate at Michigan State University. She is also Associate Director for the MSU Research Consortium on Gender-Based Violence (RCGV) and Director of RCGV’s Division of Linguistic Justice. She is passionate about increasing the access and cultural relevance of evidence-based treatments and supportive services for survivors of trauma, particularly among ethnic minority and immigrant communities. Her current work is focused on the evaluation of innovative housing models for IPV survivors and their families.

Ryan P. Bowles

Ryan P. Bowles is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University. Dr. Bowles studies early childhood language and literacy development. He focuses on how assessments can be used most effectively to understand the skills kids need before they begin reading. Dr. Bowles is an expert in statistical analyses for assessments and development, including item response modeling, structural equation modeling, and longitudinal methods.

Mackenzie Sprecher

Mackenzie Sprecher, BASW, is a Research Assistant for the Research Consortium on Gender-Based Violence at Michigan State University. She received her Bachelor’s in Social Work from Michigan State University. Her research interests include gender-based privilege, masculinity, and interpersonal violence.

Danielle Chiaramonte

Danielle Chiaramonte is an Associate Research Scientist at Yale School of Public Health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Chiaramonte is a part of the Yale LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative and conducts community-engaged research that promotes organization and system-level change, particularly in the areas of LGBTQ mental health, sexual health, gender-based violence, and implementation science.

Jasmine Engleton

Jasmine Engleton, M.A, is a doctoral student at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on domestic violence survivors’ experience with housing instability as well as sexual assault survivors’ experience with the criminal justice system. She continues to be interested in community-level responses to gender-based violence and how institutions and systems contribute to oppressive conditions (e.g. housing instability, homelessness, etc.).