Health Impacts of Parental Incarceration on ChildrenHealth Impacts of Parental Incarceration on Children A study published in Academic Pediatrics has uncovered the significant health risks faced by children with a family history of incarceration. Drawing on electronic health records from Cincinnati Children’s, researchers analyzed data from over 1.74 million patients under 21 between 2009 and 2020. Key Findings: * Increased Physical and Mental Health Issues: Children with incarcerated family members were more likely to experience physical ailments, such as shaken baby syndrome, and mental health conditions, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. * Disproportionate Diagnoses: These children had higher rates of neurodevelopmental disorders and diagnoses related to suicide and self-harm. * Justice System Exposure: Over one-third of the children under child protection supervision had a family member involved in the justice system. * Racial Disparities: Black patients were disproportionately represented among those with family members in prison. Implications: The study highlights the far-reaching effects of mass incarceration on children’s health. It suggests that youth with incarcerated family members face substantial health disparities, which may contribute to poor health outcomes and health care disparities in society. Call to Action: The researchers emphasize the need for future research to better understand the mechanisms behind these health risks. They also call for policies and interventions that address the impact of parental incarceration on children, including reducing incarceration rates, providing support for families affected by imprisonment, and improving access to healthcare for vulnerable populations. Quote from Lead Author: Samantha Boch, lead author of the study, stated, “We will continue to face health care disparities and lead the world in poor health outcomes if we continue to lead the way in incarceration.”
A recent analysis found that children with a family history of incarceration are more likely to experience physical and mental health problems than other children.
The study, published in Academic Pediatrics, looked at 11 years of electronic health records from Cincinnati Children’s, analyzing more than 1.74 million unique patients under the age of 21 between 2009 and 2020. It sheds light on the ripple effects of mass incarceration.
Researchers searched the records using keywords such as “prison sentence,” “parole,” and “prison sentence” to see if there was any involvement in the justice system. They then compared the records of patients with a keyword about justice in their records to those of demographically similar patients.
Ultimately, the researchers identified nearly 38,300 patients with equity keywords in their records, 2.2 percent of the total sample. The overall sample was overwhelmingly white (64 percent). While black patients made up only 12.8 percent of the larger sample, 28.2 percent of those with equity keywords in their records were black.
In more than a third of the patients whose records showed that they were under child protection supervision, a keyword justice was also used.
Patients with the keywords justice accounted for 42.9 percent of all schizophrenia spectrum disorders and other psychotic disorders, 42.1 percent of bipolar and related disorders, and 38.3 percent of suicide and self-harm diagnoses. In addition, they were disproportionately diagnosed with physical conditions such as neurodevelopmental disorders (69.7 percent) and shaken baby syndrome (44.9 percent).
Given that an estimated 7 percent of American youth have an incarcerated parent, the study’s numbers likely “grossly underestimate the true exposure to personal or familial confinement among youth served by this institution,” the researchers note. The “vast disparities” suggested by their analysis could help guide future research, they write.
“We will continue to face health care disparities and lead the world in poor health outcomes if we continue to lead the way in incarceration,” Samantha Boch, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and lead author of the paper, said in a press release.
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