Homeless youth experience elevated rates of victimization, yet few studies have identified malleable intervention targets that could mitigate risk for such adverse experiences. Building on a prior study that used latent class analysis to identify 3 victimization profiles among homeless youth (low-victimization class, high-victimization class, and witness class), we investigate how different coping styles (active, avoidant, and social coping) were associated with each victimization profile among a large purposive sample of homeless youth (N = 601). Results indicate that youth who report employing greater avoidant coping are more likely to have a witness or high-victimization profile, while social coping is associated with having a low-victimization profile. Coping styles may represent malleable factors that offer promising intervention targets for helping homeless youth safely navigate stressful street environments.

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Mode of access: Internet.