Abstract
The present study investigates how visitation from parents impacts youths’ mental health in the first two months of incarceration in a secure juvenile facility. A diverse sample of 276 male, newly incarcerated serious adolescent offenders (14–17 years) was interviewed over a 60-day period. Results indicate that youth who receive visits from parents report more rapid declines in depressive symptoms over time compared to youth who do not receive parental visits. Moreover, these effects are cumulative, such that the greater number of visits from parents, the greater the decrease in depressive symptoms. Importantly, the protective effect of receiving parental visits during incarceration exists regardless of the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship. Policy changes that facilitate visitation may be key for easing adjustment during the initial period of incarceration.
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Notes
With a sample of 276 youthful offenders, we had the power (1-B) to detect the difference between conditions as small as d = .10, generally considered small effects.
Two indices of parents were calculated. The first was limited to biological parents; the second measure accounted for biological and stepparents. There were no differences in results.
Results of the present study did not change when the number of days spent in temporary detention/solitary confinement was controlled nor when we controlled for youth anti-depressant medication. Consequently, we report the findings without these variables in the model for parsimony.
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Acknowledgments
Funding for this study was provided to Elizabeth Cauffman, Ph.D. from the National Institute of Mental Health (K01MH01791-01A1) and from the Center for Evidence-Based Corrections at the University of California, Irvine. We are especially grateful to the many individuals responsible for the data collection and preparation.
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Monahan, K.C., Goldweber, A. & Cauffman, E. The Effects of Visitation on Incarcerated Juvenile Offenders: How Contact with the Outside Impacts Adjustment on the Inside. Law Hum Behav 35, 143–151 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-010-9220-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-010-9220-x