Investigating the effects of housing instability on depression, anxiety, and mental health treatment in childhood and adolescence

Housing instability is a widespread phenomenon in the United States. In combination with other social determinants of health, housing instability affects children's overall health and development. Drawing on data from the 2022 National Survey of Children's Health, we employed multiple logistic regression models to understand how sociodemographic factors, especially housing instability, affect mental health outcomes and treatment access for youth aged 6-17 years. Our results show that youth facing housing instability have a higher likelihood of experiencing anxiety (OR: 1.42, p