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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2023 Aug;24(6):1198-1208.
doi: 10.1007/s11121-023-01571-9. Epub 2023 Jul 18.

The Prospective Effects of Caregiver Parenting on Behavioral Health Outcomes for Children with Incarcerated Parents: a Family Resilience Perspective

Cady Berkel  1   2 , Karey O'Hara  3   4 , J Mark Eddy  5 , C Aubrey Rhodes  3   6 , Austin Blake  3   6 , Nalani Thomas  7   3 , Liza Hita  3   4 , Danita Herrera  8 , Alice C Wheeler  9 , Sharlene Wolchik  3   6
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

The Prospective Effects of Caregiver Parenting on Behavioral Health Outcomes for Children with Incarcerated Parents: a Family Resilience Perspective

Cady Berkel et al. Prev Sci. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

Rates of parental incarceration in the USA have increased dramatically over the past four decades. The Adverse Childhood Experiences study identified parental incarceration as one of several risk factors related to multiple health outcomes during childhood and adulthood. Parents and other caregivers are widely regarded as sources of resilience for children experiencing adversity, yet few studies have examined caregivers' parenting practices as sources of resilience for children with incarcerated parents. This study used secondary data from a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of the prison-based parent management training program Parenting Inside Out (PIO). Specifically, it included 149 caregivers (i.e., the non-incarcerated parent, extended family member, or other adult who provides the day-to-day caretaking of a child during parental incarceration) of children aged 2-14 years whose incarcerated parents were randomly assigned to receive PIO or the control condition. Path analysis was used to examine associations between caregivers' parenting, social support, self-efficacy, and change in child internalizing and externalizing symptoms across a 6-month period. Direct effects of caregivers' parenting were found on improvements in child behavioral health from baseline (conducted when the parent was incarcerated) to the 6-month follow-up (conducted after most parents had been released). Indirect effects were found for caregiver social support and self-efficacy. The findings highlight the importance of caregivers' adaptive parenting as a protective resource for children who experience parental incarceration and have implications for the design of preventive interventions for this underserved population.

Keywords: Caregivers; Child behavioral health; Parental incarceration; Parenting.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest/Competing interests. None noted.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Hypothesized Direct and Indirect Associations between Parenting Resources, Adaptive Parenting, and Behavioral Health Outcomes for Children with Incarcerated Parents
Figure 2
Figure 2
The Effects of Caregivers’ Adaptive Parenting on Behavioral Health Outcomes for Children with an Incarcerated Parent
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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