Parental Incarceration & Juvenile Justice Involvement Increase Youth Mental Health Risk

Parental incarceration and juvenile justice involvement may be associated with mental illness in young adult populations. A childhood history of both personal involvement in the juvenile justice system and parental incarceration was associated with a greater likelihood of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder in young adulthood compared to peers without those experiences.

These findings were reported in “Association Of Childhood History Of Parental Incarceration And Juvenile Justice Involvement With Mental Health In Early Adulthood” by Nia Heard-Garris, M.D., MSc; Kaitlyn Ann Sacotte, M.D.; Tyler N. A. Winkelman, M.D., MSc; et al. The researchers concluded . . .