TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of parental incarceration in predicting trajectories of child internalizing problems
AU - Kjellstrand, Jean
AU - Yu, Gary
AU - Eddy, J. Mark
AU - Clark, Miriam
AU - Jackson, Arriell
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for this project was provided by Grant R01 MH 65553 from the Prevention and Behavioral Medicine Research Branch, Division of Epidemiology and Services Research, NIMH, NIH, U. S. PHS, Grant R01 MH 054248 from the Prevention Research Branch, NIDA, NIH, U.S. PHS, and Grant 2013-JU-FX-0007, from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. DOJ. We would like to express our appreciation to the participating school principals, teachers, staff members, parents, and youth in the LIFT trial. We are thankful to the many Oregon Social Learning Center researchers, interventionists, and administrators who worked on LIFT over the years.
Funding Information:
Finally, the results from our study stress the importance of a multi-component and multilevel systemic approach rather than a “one-size-fits-all” approach, given the number and diversity of issues at play in different families. Interventions that are flexible and address issues occurring directly with the child (e.g., socio-emotional health issues), the interaction of the child and parents (e.g., parent–child relationships, parenting practices), and the wellbeing of the parent and family (e.g., physical/mental health, financial self-sufficiency, family relationships) are especially promising. Such multi-dimensional approaches have been supported by the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine report (2009) and interest in as well as financial support for such approaches are beginning to emerge. For instance, the Administration for Children and Families launched the Responsible Fatherhood Opportunities for Reentry and Mobility (ReFORM) initiative (2015) to explore ways to provide comprehensive support for corrections-involved fathers and their families. Each demonstration project developed and implemented a broad strategy to address three related issues impacting the parent and family: economic stability, parenting, and healthy relationships. For example, the Strength in Families project within the Washington Department of Corrections ( Becker-Green et al., 2015 ), combines intensive case management (both pre- and post-release) and visitation with a set of evidence-based curricula (i.e., Parenting Inside Out, Walking the Line, Job Seeking Skills) to help support fathers and their families as fathers transition from prison back into their communities and families. Unfortunately, while such comprehensive approaches are being introduced, few have yet to be rigorously tested ( Kjellstrand, 2017 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - On any given day, millions of U.S. children have at least one parent in jail or in prison. As the number of children facing this situation has increased considerably over the past several decades, interest has intensified regarding the impact of this experience on child adjustment. Although substantial research has focused on the link between parental incarceration and child externalizing behaviors, comparatively little research has examined the impact of parental incarceration on child internalizing problems across time. This leaves a critical gap in understanding child outcomes as a whole, as internalizing problems can have implications for psychopathology and other problematic issues not only across childhood but also across adulthood. To address this gap, the effects of parental incarceration on developmental trajectories of internalizing problems were examined while controlling for key individual, parental and family influences. Using four trajectory groups – Low-Stable, Preadolescent-Limited, Moderate-Increasing, and High-Decreasing – found in previous analyses of data from a longitudinal study of 655 youth, we fit unadjusted and adjusted multinomial logistic regression models. The models included all predictors of interest on the categorical outcome of the specific internalizing problem trajectory using the Low-Stable individuals as the reference group. Study results suggest that when controlling for other family risks, parental incarceration is not a significant risk factor for any of the trajectories in the development of internalizing problems. These findings provide evidence that parental incarceration may be a risk marker, rather than a unique risk factor, for internalizing problems among youth.
AB - On any given day, millions of U.S. children have at least one parent in jail or in prison. As the number of children facing this situation has increased considerably over the past several decades, interest has intensified regarding the impact of this experience on child adjustment. Although substantial research has focused on the link between parental incarceration and child externalizing behaviors, comparatively little research has examined the impact of parental incarceration on child internalizing problems across time. This leaves a critical gap in understanding child outcomes as a whole, as internalizing problems can have implications for psychopathology and other problematic issues not only across childhood but also across adulthood. To address this gap, the effects of parental incarceration on developmental trajectories of internalizing problems were examined while controlling for key individual, parental and family influences. Using four trajectory groups – Low-Stable, Preadolescent-Limited, Moderate-Increasing, and High-Decreasing – found in previous analyses of data from a longitudinal study of 655 youth, we fit unadjusted and adjusted multinomial logistic regression models. The models included all predictors of interest on the categorical outcome of the specific internalizing problem trajectory using the Low-Stable individuals as the reference group. Study results suggest that when controlling for other family risks, parental incarceration is not a significant risk factor for any of the trajectories in the development of internalizing problems. These findings provide evidence that parental incarceration may be a risk marker, rather than a unique risk factor, for internalizing problems among youth.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105055
DO - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105055
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85085302672
SN - 0190-7409
VL - 115
JO - Children and Youth Services Review
JF - Children and Youth Services Review
M1 - 105055
ER -