Paternal and Maternal Incarceration Influences on Childhood Abuse and Neglect: A Longitudinal Investigation of School Factors as Mediators and Moderators

• In Event: - Adversity in Context: Associations Between Family and Neighborhood Disadvantage, Parenting, and Child Outcomes

Abstract

The US stands out as a world leader in mass incarceration, and the majority of those incarcerated are parents. The influences of paternal and maternal incarceration have been examined nationally and cross-nationally, indicating often detrimental child outcomes including lowered educational attainments, and more health problems, delinquency and antisocial behavior. However, fewer studies have examined whether parental incarceration is associated with children’s violence exposure over the life course. Research with the first three waves (Wave 1: 1994-1995, Wave 2: 1996 and Wave 3: 2001-2002) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) found paternal incarceration elevated the risk of sexual abuse for daughters who were aged 18-26 at the third wave of this study (Foster and Hagan 2007). A study with the Fragile Families and Child-Wellbeing Study found paternal imprisonment was associated with harsh maternal parenting practices that elevate children’s neglect and receipt of physical aggression (Turney 2014). A question remains however, if children experience violence when their mothers are imprisoned. Our study with Add Health using data from Waves 1-4 (including over 7000 longitudinal respondents) aims to investigate how each of childhood paternal and maternal incarceration are associated with children’s exposure to violence in the forms of abuse in childhood as recalled retrospectively by respondents in adulthood (at Wave 4: 2008-2009) and neglect recalled in young adulthood (at Wave 3: 2001-2002).

Our paper analyzes information from Waves 1-4 of the Add Health study that at Wave 4 asks about a range of abuse experiences by age 18 and their frequency of occurrence, along with information on parental imprisonment. The prevalence of paternal imprisonment in this national sample by age 18 is 8%, and maternal imprisonment is 2%. Preliminary analyses using logistic regression shows paternal incarceration is associated with young adult sexual abuse by age 18, net of a broad range of other paternal characteristics and adolescent socio-demographics (Odds Ratio: 2.01, p<.01). Additionally, regression analyses indicate paternal incarceration also elevates the frequency of childhood physical abuse by age 18 (b=.36, p<.01) and the frequency of childhood emotional abuse by age 18 (b=.53, p<.001), after taking into account control variables. Furthermore, paternal incarceration by age 12 is also associated with an elevated risk of childhood neglect (by 6th Grade) (b=.23, p<.05). Our analyses with fathers also shows that when students perceive teachers to be unfair in Grades 7-12 (Wave 1 with an average age of 15), it partially mediates the influence of paternal incarceration on children’s sexual abuse. Our preliminary results with maternal imprisonment influences indicates a positive association with children’s risk of sexual abuse (OR=1.90, p<.10), albeit at a marginal level of significance, and perceiving teachers to be unfair was supported as an explanatory pathway. As seen for fathers, maternal incarceration by age 12 is positively associated with children’s levels of neglect by 6th Grade (b=.38, p<.05). Therefore, paternal and maternal incarceration are associated with forms of childhood abuse and neglect, and we further discuss the role of school environments in mediating and moderating these pathways.

Authors

• Holly Foster, Texas A&M University - College Station
  Presenting Author

• John Hagan

• Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Columbia University