Language ability and adult homelessness

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Linguistics
• Social Sciences

Background:

• Homelessness is linked to neurological risks affecting cognitive and language skills.
• Previous studies compared homeless individuals to general populations, not socio-economic controls.
• The impact of homelessness on language relative to socio-economic background is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare language skills of homeless adults with education-matched controls.
• To test the hypothesis that homeless individuals exhibit lower language performance.

Main Methods:

• Quasi-experimental design with 17 homeless and 16 never-homeless adults in Quito, Ecuador.
• Assessment of head injury, substance dependence, affective disorder, and language skills.
• Paired-sample analysis matched for educational background.

Main Results:

• No demographic or clinical differences between groups.
• Homeless group scored significantly lower in auditory comprehension and oral expression.
• No differences in premorbid ability or current non-verbal cognition.

Conclusions:

• Homeless adults may have language deficits relative to education and cognitive ability.
• Potential for developmental or acquired language impairments.
• Homeless individuals might benefit from clinical language disorder therapy.