Multisite Family Study Research Articles

The Association Between Safety, Forgiveness, and Bonding Among Incarcerated Men and Their Partners

The ripple effect of incarceration on incarcerated loved ones is multifaceted. Studies show imprisonment impacts the well-being of intimate and extended familial relationships, parental involvement, and financial support. Using data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering, this study examined male responses. The findings revealed an association between bonding, forgiveness, and safety. Further, the results of this study contribute to the growing body of couples research that focuses on romantic relationships that involve incarcerated loved ones. We include clinical implications that suggest integrating forgiveness and safety into bonding techniques used in family and marriage counseling. Future studies should consider that data is disproportionate regarding underrepresentation of racially and ethnically minoritized groups.

The Effect of Peer Influence and Neighborhood Quality on Incarcerated Fathers' Attachment.

Commonly referred to as the "hidden victims" of incarceration, children with a parent who is intermittently or repeatedly incarcerated face various challenges that exacerbate behavioral and psychological development. Using a baseline adaptation of the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering (MFS-IP), we sought to clarify how peer influence and neighborhood quality can predict the extent of an incarcerated father's attachment to the focal child and partner. Results showed a negative association between negative peer influence and poor neighborhood quality. Conversely, incarcerated fathers' relationship with their biological mother and fathers produced a significant positive association. These findings propose that risk and protective factors can directly influence attachment levels with the focal child, as suggested by Social Control Theory. This article provides a basis for a more comprehensive understanding of clinical support that can be offered to children and families who bear the systemic societal mechanisms of incarceration.

Father–Child Contact During Prison and Its Association With Fathers’ Parenting Self-Efficacy

This study examines the association between three forms of father–child contact during incarceration and fathers’ reports of parental self-efficacy. The study’s sample derives from ( n = 1,720) fathers participating in the Multisite Family Study on Incarceration, Partnering, and Parenting (MFS-IP) study. Multivariate ordinary least squares regression models were conducted to examine the study’s hypotheses. Among the contact types, visits had a positive and significant effect on fathers’ views of their parental efficacy after controlling demographic, familial, and carceral characteristics. This study informs practice and policy, demonstrating that contact is essential to family-strengthening services and beneficial for incarcerated fathers and families. Importantly, efforts should be made to make it easier for fathers to have contact with their children.

The Mediating Effects of Extended Family Support and Relationship Change on Romantic Bonding and Support in Romantic Relationship Among Incarcerated Men

ABSTRACT Previous studies indicated challenges to maintain the bond between incarcerated men and their non-incarcerated partner during the incarceration period. Thus, this study examined the effect of perceived partner support and plans to support partner post release on perceived romantic bonding, the presence of extended family support as well as romantic relationship changing among incarcerated males. A sample of 1356 participants was drawn from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering data to conduct a mediation path analysis. The findings highlighted the positive association between perceived partner support and romantic bonding and the significant mediating effect of extended family support and relationship changing. Interestingly, plans to support partner post release only showed indirect effect through familial support but not relationship changing. Results suggested opposite roles of familial support and relationship changing in helping incarcerated men preserve the bonds with their partners. Clinical implications and future research directions are provided.

Prerelease expectations, post-release experiences, and risk for reincarceration among incarcerated U.S. fathers

Formerly incarcerated individuals face numerous hardships during reentry that may increase their risk for future reincarceration. Documenting the expectations and experiences individuals have for reentry may shed new light on the United States’ high reincarceration rate and inform interventions. Using data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering (MFS-IP), this study describes incarcerated fathers’ expectations for reentry and examines whether unmet expectations increase risk for short-term reincarceration. The analytic sample consisted of 346 Black and White fathers who provided data on expectations for support, financial stability, and family relationships during incarceration and their experiences in each domain after release. Descriptive analyses revealed variability in terms of whether fathers expect to have their needs met upon reentry and whether needs are actually met. Logistic regressions that were stratified by race and included controls for theoretically relevant variables suggested that expectations did not predict reincarceration. Moreover, among White fathers, unmet expectations were inversely associated with risk for short-term reincarceration. Results are discussed in terms of implications for future theory, research, and practice.

The Impact of PTSD and Depression on Romantic Attachment Within Incarcerated Romantic Relationships

There are currently 2.3 million Americans incarcerated. In 2018, Black males were 5.8 times more likely to be incarcerated than White males. Every aspect of incarcerated individuals’ lives is immensely impacted by the criminal justice system, this includes their romantic relationships. The purpose of this study is to examine if PTSD and depression impact romantic attachment. Using data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering study, our independent variables PTSD and depression used the 4-point Primary Care PTSD Scale (PC-PTSD) and The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The dependent variable of romantic attachment consisted of four questions regarding close relationships. Our results showed that race, PTSD, and depression are all significant predictors of romantic attachment within incarcerated males and their non-incarcerated romantic partners. Clinical implications and future directions for incarcerated men and their nonincarcerated female romantic partners are provided.

Supportive Communication Skills as a Protective Factor Among Couples Experiencing Incarceration

We employ an ABC-X model of family stress theory lens to examine the association between several communication skills and patterns and relationship quality within heterosexual couples where the man is incarcerated and the woman is not. Using data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering and multinomial logistic regression, we found that couples who are regularly able to work out their differences have a lower relative risk of drifting apart in their relationship. Couples who frequently have heated arguments have both increased relative risks of becoming closer together and drifting apart. Multivariate linear regression analyses revealed that more frequently having a sense of humor and being able to work out differences is associated with increased relationship happiness while having more frequent heated arguments and a partner who interrupts is associated with decreased relationship happiness during incarceration. Prison programs should include training on improving couples’ communication skills.

Self-Efficacy, Goal Orientation, and Relationship Ideologies Among Incarcerated Men and Their Romantic Partners

Previous research has found that self-efficacy may be higher during incarceration, which may be a time when individuals reflect, leading incarcerated individuals to create lasting behavioral changes. Self-efficacy may be used to prepare for upcoming community reentry and improve other life outcomes while managing stress during and after incarceration. Utilizing a solution-focused brief therapy conceptualization and data from the Multi-Site Family Study of Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering, we assess the relationship between self-efficacy, goal orientation, and romantic relationship ideologies with incarcerated men and their non-incarcerated partners. The results indicate that self-efficacy and goal orientation skills cultivated while incarcerated are strongly associated with overall relationship ideologies between the incarcerated male partner and his non-incarcerated partner. While these results substantiate the importance of romantic relationship building during time in prison, they speak to greater capabilities of incarcerated men to form other, non-romantic relationships with their children and family members upon release. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

Infidelity and Anger within Incarcerated Couples: A Brief Report

Introduction Incarcerated couples face a variety of concerns and barriers in their relationships, with infidelity being a major problem. This study sought to research incarcerated individuals’ intimate relationships and experiences of anger and fidelity for both partners. Methods Using data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering we utilized Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling (APIM) to examine fidelity and anger management for incarcerated men and their non-incarcerated female partners. Results The findings showed that the actor effect was not statistically significant, but the partner effect was statistically significant for both the incarcerated male partner and non-incarcerated female partner. There was no statistical significance for the control variable of education, which is contrary to previous correlational studies of anger management and education levels. Discussion Based on these results, it is recommended that incarcerated individuals receive anger management training to strengthen fidelity.

Trajectories of incarcerated coparenting: Examining differences across race and ethnicity.

Emerging research suggests that those coparenting with an incarcerated person experience multiple challenges. Examining incarcerated coparenting among minority fathers is especially salient as their incarceration rates are substantially higher than White males. This study utilized data from the Multi-Site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering Study to examine changes in coparenting relationships when the male partner was incarcerated. Theoretically guided by structural family therapy, latent growth models were used to evaluate trajectories of fathers' coparenting reliability and coparenting cohesion across 34 months. Results indicated average declines within incarcerated men's reported coparenting responsibility and coparenting cohesion with their partner. Incarcerated men with higher relationship quality at T1 was significantly associated with higher initial levels of coparenting cohesion and coparenting responsibility-but not with the trajectories of coparenting change. Incarcerated fathers identifying as Hispanic and Other declined at a significantly steeper rate in coparenting responsibility than Black and White incarcerated fathers. Clinical implications and future research directions are provided.

Fatherhood, Behavioral Health, and Criminal Legal System Contact over the Life Course.

Life course theories suggest that fathers' lifetime criminal legal system contact could contribute to poor parent-child outcomes via deterioration in couple relationship quality and fathers' behavioral health. Using paired, longitudinal data from the Multi-site Family Study (N = 1,112 couples), the current study examines the influence of three dimensions of fathers' life course legal system contact on individual and parent-child outcomes. In fitted models, accumulated system contact in adulthood predicts fathers' later depressive symptoms and drug misuse, which in turn predict diminished father-child relationship quality (as reported by both co-parents). Fathers who were older at the time of their first arrest had poorer relationships with their children's mothers and, in turn, poorer behavioral health and parent-child outcomes. Conditions of confinement during fathers' most recent prison stay do not significantly predict later parent-child outcomes, net of the influence of age at first arrest and accumulated criminal legal system contact in adulthood.

Couple Connectedness in Corrections: Attachment, Childhood Parental Stability, and Dyadic Adjustment in Romantic Relationships With an Incarcerated Partner

Attachment styles within dyadic relationships affect multiple levels of the family structure that include: the relationship, the ability to navigate and adjust to change as a couple, as well as the implications it has on children. Utilizing data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering [MFS-IP], Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling was used to address the correlation between dyadic adjustment and attachment between couples, as well as addressing factors of race on this correlation. Results yielded that higher rates of attachment were associated with better dyadic adjustment, especially if one partner had a higher rate of attachment.

The Association between Perpetuation of Intimate Partner Violence and Family Support on Couples with an Incarcerated Partner.

The ripple effect of incarceration is multifaceted. Studies show that imprisonment impacts the well-being of intimate and extended familial relationships, parental involvement, and financial support. Using data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering [MFS-IP], this study examined the effects of incarceration on families. The focus of this study is to examine the effect of family support on perpetrating physical violence. The findings revealed that the actor effect for men (p < 0.05) is statistically significant, meaning that men with less family support perpetuate higher levels of intimate partner violence (IPV). The partner effects for men to women (p < 0.05) is also statistically significant, meaning women with less family support coincide with men’s higher levels of IPV perpetration. Further, the effect of romantic attachment on perpetrating physical violence for men (p = 0.034) is statistically significant, meaning higher levels of romantic attachment towards the female partner coincides with their lower levels of perpetration of IPV. Clinical implications and future directions are provided.

An actor-partner interdependence model analysis of family support and depression among coparenting couples with an incarcerated partner

More people are incarcerated in the United States than in any other nation in the world. The incarcerated population disproportionately struggles with mental health issues. Familial support can help mitigate the detrimental consequences for incarcerated persons struggling with mental health issues, as well as for their families. We use data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering, and employ Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling (APIM) to examine the relationship between perceived extended family support and depression for dyads consisting of incarcerated men and their non-incarcerated, female coparenting and romantic partners. We find that higher levels of perceived family support lessen depressive symptoms for both dyad members. However, higher levels of perceived support for both men and women disproportionately benefit the non-incarcerated woman, as the non-incarcerated women may additionally benefit from having male partners with better perceived social support. Clinical implications and future directions for incarcerated individuals and their families are discussed.

Institutional Relational Maintenance Barriers and Perceptions of Relationship Quality Among Women With Incarcerated Partners

High rates of incarceration in the United States has prompted researchers to study the impacts of imprisonment on romantic relationships and minor children. We examine the relationship between several prison facility barriers to relational maintenance and perceptions of relationship quality from the perspective of women whose male romantic, coparenting partners are incarcerated. Using data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering (MFS-IP) and binomial logistic regression, we find that the high costs of phone calls and difficulty of in-person visitation negatively impact how women perceive romantic relationship quality. These findings suggest that alleviating barriers to contact can help strengthen couples’ relationships.

When State Violence Comes Home: From Criminal Legal System Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence in a Time of Mass Incarceration.

Exceptionally high rates of partner violence perpetration are evident among men returning from prison. Two bodies of scholarship, one on family stress and another on exposure to state violence, each suggest that criminal legal system exposure could promote partner violence perpetration via changes in men's behavioral health and interpersonal approach and in couples' conflict dynamics. Such relationships have not been tested in quantitative research. Structural equation models were fitted to longitudinal, couples-based survey data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering. Participants included men returning from a state prison term in five U.S. states (N = 1112) and their committed intimate or co-parenting partners (N = 1112). Models tested hypothesized pathways from three dimensions of criminal legal system exposure to later partner violence perpetration. In fitted models, men's childhood criminal legal system exposure predicts their post-prison partner violence perpetration via adult post-traumatic stress symptoms, reactivity, avoidance, and dysfunctional couple conflict dynamics. Men's cumulative criminal legal system exposure in adulthood predicts their post-prison partner violence perpetration via addiction and dysfunctional couple conflict. These initial results suggest that mass-scale incarceration could worsen partner violence via men's psychological and interpersonal adaptations to criminal legal system contact, particularly when such contact is sustained or occurs at a developmentally significant period in the life course.

Mental health, perceived consensus of coparenting, and physical health among incarcerated fathers and their nonincarcerated, romantic partners.

Incarcerated fathers and their coparenting partners experience serious challenges to their health and well-being, beyond the general population. The interdependent nature of romantic involvement and coparenting a child suggests that self-reported mental health and the perceived consensus of the coparenting relationship may predict the physical health of not only the individual, but their partner. We use Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling (APIM) for 483 romantically involved coparents from the Multisite Family study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering to explore this link. Each dyad consists of an incarcerated male and a nonincarcerated female. Results indicate a significant link between mental and physical health for each dyad member (actor effects). Additionally, a partner effect links perceived consensus of coparenting from men to women, indicating that women whose partners reported a higher perceived consensus of coparenting also reported better physical health. Implications for marriage and family therapy, criminal justice, health, and human services policy are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Churning Through the System: Implications of Fathers’ Reentry and Recidivism after Prison for Children’s Well-Being

One in fourteen children experience the incarceration of a parent only to be reunited upon release where risk for recidivism remains high—the implications of which for children’s well-being is not well understood. To fill this gap, the study uses data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering to follow 543 justice-involved fathers 18-months post-release. Results suggest that stable reentry trajectories are associated with children’s decreased behavior problems, particularly for those who are non-residential. Boys and older children may be more negatively influenced by frequency of recidivism whereas girls and younger children may benefit more from longer durations of community time. Findings inform strategies that ease reintegration processes and improve well-being for children in justice-involved families.

Examining the Association Between Fatherhood Attitudes and Parental Warmth among Incarcerated Fathers

The number of incarcerated individuals has skyrocketed over the last thirty years. The majority of incarcerated individuals are racially minoritized individuals and many are also parents. Seventy percent of incarcerated fathers were raised in households without the presence of a father and, thus, struggle with building close relationships and maintaining family ties. More research is needed to further explore factors that influence incarcerated fathers’ familial relationships. Data were utilized from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering to answer: Do incarcerated fathers parenting attitudes predict parental warmth? Results indicated that the father’s emotional health and fatherhood attitude related to decision-making involvement was positively associated with parental warmth. Results can be used to inform clinical practice and future research in reference to incarcerated fathers and their relationships with their child(ren). Clinical implications and future directions are provided to advocate for family services as well as to better serve this population.

The Importance of the ‘Village’: Examining the Association between Social Supports and Hazardous Alcohol Use among Mothers with an Incarcerated Coparent

Coparenting partners experience feelings of shame and anger and have higher risks of alcohol and drug use. Mothers experience unique challenges that exacerbate their vulnerability to substance use. Using data from the multisite family study on incarceration, parenting, and partnering was used to examine the association between social support and hazardous alcohol use among mothers with incarcerated partners. A hierarchical binary regression indicated several support factors that were shown to be connected to precarious alcohol use. Results showed that multiple forms of support are potentially helpful in mitigating hazardous alcohol use. Findings highlight the importance of considering the proverbial village.