Citation
Thomas, Kirby Ann & Valle, Giuseppina (2012). Parental incarceration and self-reported health in adulthood. 2012 Add Health Users Conference. Bethesda, MD.Abstract
Recent increases in parental incarceration, particularly among mothers, have motivated research efforts to focus on the effects of parental imprisonment on child well-being. While most research efforts have examined parental incarceration as a risk factor for children’s antisocial behavior, future offending, mental health problems, and drug abuse, little attention has been given to child physical health outcomes as they transition to adulthood. Using Waves I and IV of Add Health, we examine the effect of parental incarceration, both paternal and maternal, on child self-reported health in adulthood. Using ordered logistic regression, preliminary results indicate that controlling for background characteristics and health behaviors, paternal incarceration during childhood is associated with lower levels of self-reported health during adulthood. Furthermore, maternal incarceration during childhood is also associated with lower levels of self-reported health in adulthood, although this relationship is mediated to non-significance when controlling for childhood socio-economic status. As this research progresses, we will incorporate the potential moderation of gender and/or race and ethnicity to more adequately capture the effects of parental incarceration on the well-being of children, along with other types of health outcomes, as they transition to adulthood. We believe this study will begin shed light on the adverse health effects experienced by children with incarcerated parents.URL
https://addhealth.cpc.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/docs/events/2012%20Add%20Health%20Users%20Conference%20Abstracts.pdfReference Type
Conference proceedingBook Title
2012 Add Health Users ConferenceAuthor(s)
Thomas, Kirby AnnValle, Giuseppina