Children of incarcerated parents: Development of externalizing behaviors across adolescence

Abstract

Increasingly, “children of incarcerated parents” is becoming the label to describe a growing number of children with a history of parental incarceration. However, while these children and families frequently experience a variety of challenges, the web of interacting influences they face is complex. This variation makes it difficult to understand the effects of parental incarceration on children over time as well as to find solutions that help promote positive youth development for children impacted by parental incarceration. The current study uses latent growth curve (LGC) modeling to examine if parental incarceration during childhood predicts a higher initial level of externalizing behaviors by children in late childhood as well as the persistence and growth of these behaviors across adolescence. The analyses controlled for the influence of covariates that research has demonstrated are predictive of externalizing behaviors, including SES, gender, academic achievement, parental depression, and parent-child relationship quality. When controlling for the covariates, parental incarceration was not significantly related to child externalizing behaviors at baseline. However, parental incarceration was the sole predictor of an increase in externalizing problems over time. Implications for practice and research are discussed.