Heard-Garris N, Winkelman TNA, Choi H, et al. Health Care Use and Health Behaviors Among Young Adults With History of Parental Incarceration. Pediatrics. 2018;142(3):e20174314

AbstractFew studies have investigated the relationship of temperament and character, as conceptualized in the Temperament and Character Inventory–Revised (TCI-R), to symptoms of depression and anxiety in the general population. In this study a random sample of subjects (20 to 70 years), in two Finnish cities, were surveyed with the TCI-R, Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories, plus questions related to diagnosed lifetime mental disorders, health care use for psychiatric reasons during the past 12 months, and history of mental disorders in first-degree relatives. Altogether 347 subjects (38.6%) responded. Of the TCI-R dimensions, Harm Avoidance correlated with symptoms of depression (rs = 0.555, p < 0.001), anxiety (rs= 0.560, p < 0.001), self-reported lifetime mental disorder (rs = 0.272, p< 0.001), health care use for psychiatric reason during the past 12 months (rs = 0.241, p< 0.001) and family history of mental disorder (rs = 0.202, p<0.001). Self-directedness correlated negatively with symptoms of depression (rs = -0.495, p< 0.001), anxiety (rs = -0.458, p < 0.001), lifetime mental disorder (rs = 0.225, p< 0.001) and health care use (rs = -0.135, p = 0.013). Overall, Harm Avoidance and Self-directedness seem to associate moderately with depressive and anxiety symptoms, and somewhat predict self-reported use of health services for psychiatric reasons, and lifetime mental disorder. High harm avoidance may associate with a family history of mental disorder.

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Sex, Parental Incarceration, and Violence Perpetration Among a Sample of Young Adults

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260515605123 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 316-338 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Lisa R. Muftić ◽

Molly Smith

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Young Adults ◽

Familial Risk ◽

Parental Incarceration ◽

Self Report ◽

Limited Attention ◽

Multivariate Statistical ◽

Logistic Regression Models ◽

Violence Perpetration ◽

History Of

Limited attention has been directed at adult children with a history of parental incarceration. The goal of the current study is to expand our understanding of the gendered effects of imprisonment on the adult offspring of incarcerated parents through the exploration of violence perpetration among a sample of young adults. Congruent with problem behavior theory, it is hypothesized that young adults who have been affected by parental incarceration will report greater aversive outcomes (i.e., more risk factors and violence perpetration) than their peers without a history of parental incarceration. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that parental incarceration predicts violent perpetration even after controlling for individual and familial risk factors and demographic characteristics. A series of bivariate and multivariate statistical models utilizing self-report data from 534 college students were generated to test said hypotheses. In addition, the moderating effects of students’ sex and exposure to parental incarceration on the relationship between violence perpetration and risk factors were explored through the utilization of split logistic regression models. Roughly 1 in 10 (13.3%) students surveyed had experienced parental incarceration. As expected, students affected by parental incarceration were significantly more likely to perpetrate violence than their peers not affected by parental incarceration, net individual and familial risk. Although only a small percentage of students had experienced the imprisonment of a parent, parental incarceration predicted violence perpetration in young adulthood. These findings highlight the need to explore the long-lasting effects of parental incarceration on prisoners’ offspring across the life course.

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