Amanda Geller

Surveys, Records, and the Study of Incarceration in Families:

More than 2 million American children have a parent incarcerated, making the consequences of parental incarceration for families a critical concern. A growing literature documents significant challenges not only among incarcerated men, but also among their spouses, partners, and children. Much remains to be learned about these experiences, however; and the data available for doing so are limited. In this article, we demonstrate how the quality of available data on paternal incarceration can be improved by supplementing a leading population-based survey of families with administrative records on criminal history from a state criminal justice agency. This administrative supplement provides only a low-end estimate of the extent of criminal justice involvement in our sample, but still increases the number of fathers identified with criminal histories by more than 20 percent. Building on such a supplement—in our current survey or future ones—could improve the identification of justice-involved fathers on a broader scale.

Using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study in Life Course Health Development Research

The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) is a nationally representative birth cohort study of approximately 4900 children born in large US cities between 1998 and 2000. Nonmarital childbearing increased dramatically in the second half of the twentieth century, raising questions about the capabilities of unmarried parents, the nature of parental relationships, and their implications for child health development and wellbeing. The FFCWS has become a leading source of information about unmarried parents and their children and about child health development more generally. The study contains biological and social indicators of children’s cognitive health development as well as social determinants of health and children’s broader social environment. This rich measurement, coupled with a longitudinal design and multilevel structure, makes it an ideal resource for life course health development research. This chapter describes the demographic, scholarly, and policy context in which the FFCWS was designed, as well as technical details that will enable new users to use the study effectively. We include details of sampling, data availability, variable structure and content, as well as features of the data that enable it to be used in longitudinal research. Finally, the chapter provides information about resources that will be available in the future and institutional resources available for users of the data.

Early age at childhood parental incarceration and STI/HIV-related drug use and sex risk across the young adult lifecourse in the US: Heightened vulnerability of black and Hispanic youth

BACKGROUNDnWe measured associations between parental incarceration and STI/HIV-related drug use and sex risk, assessing differences by race, age at first parental incarceration, and potential mediators of the relationship.nnnMETHODSnWe used Waves I (adolescence), III (young adulthood), and IV (adulthood) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (nu202f=u202f11,884) to measure associations between age of parental incarceration (never; <8; 8-17; ≥18 years old) and marijuana and cocaine use, multiple partnerships, and STI in adolescence and adulthood among white, Black, and Hispanic participants and assessed mediation by sexual and physical abuse, mental disorder symptoms, and drug use.nnnRESULTSnBy Wave IV, approximately one in six had experienced a parental incarceration; higher prevalence observed among black (26%) and Hispanic (20%) versus white (15%) respondents (pu202f<u202f0.0001). Parental incarceration at any age was moderately to strongly associated with STI/HIV risk outcomes. In multivariable models, parental incarceration at age <8u202fyears old (versus never) remained strongly associated with STI/HIV risk in both adolescence and adulthood, with strongest associations among non-whites. Among black participants, parental incarceration at <8u202fyears old was associated with over double the odds of adulthood use of marijuana (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 2.53, 95% confidence interval: 1.62, 3.95) and cocaine (AOR: 4.41, 95% CI: 2.05, 9.48). Delinquency, drug use, and mood disorders appeared to partially mediate the relationship.nnnCONCLUSIONSnChildren impacted by parental incarceration constitute priority populations for substance use and STI/HIV prevention and treatment. The unintended consequences of incarceration for children should be considered in decarceration discussions.

A Longitudinal Examination of Housing Hardships Among Urban Fathers: Hardships Among Urban Fathers

Stable housing is widely recognized as a prerequisite for the functioning of individuals and families. However, the housing stability of fathers is under-studied, particularly for fathers living apart from their children. This analysis measures the extent and nature of fathers housing insecurity using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national longitudinal survey of urban families. Housing insecurity affects a substantial portion of fathers, with 25 percent experiencing insecurity at least once in their childs first nine years. However, few fathers report persistent insecurity that spans consecutive waves. Data also indicate significant differences in rates of housing insecurity between fathers living with, and apart from, the mothers of their children, with nonresident fathers far less likely to report secure housing and more likely to experience incarceration. The nature of insecurity experienced by nonresident fathers is also qualitatively different than that experienced by their coresident counterparts.