The Influence of Drug Arrests on Self-Rated Health: Analysis from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health

• In Event: Advances in Life-Course Criminology: Family Contexts, Adversity, and Justice System Contact

Abstract

Contact with the criminal justice system has been associated with numerous adverse health outcomes across the life course. While research has examined associations between arrests and health more broadly, less attention has been paid to how arrests for specific types of crime, particularly drug arrests, may differentially impact health. This study examines the relationship between drug-related arrests and self-rated health outcomes using data from Waves I-V of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. By analyzing longitudinal data tracking individuals from adolescence through adulthood, this study investigates whether and how drug arrests during adolescence and emerging adulthood predict self-rated health in later adulthood, controlling for a host of confounding factors (e.g., socioeconomic status, demographic characteristics, self-rated offending, patterns of substance use, parental incarceration). The study also compares outcomes between individuals with drug arrests versus arrests for other types of crimes (e.g., violent crime, property crime) and examines whether conviction status moderates these relationships. Findings will contribute to the criminological literature by clarifying the specific health consequences of drug arrests and inform theoretical frameworks regarding how different forms of criminal justice contact may uniquely impact health outcomes.

Authors

• Amanda Ljuba, University of Colorado Boulder

• Luke Michael Novack, Northwest Missouri State University