Metcalfe Robyn E, Muentner Luke D, Reino Claudia, Schweer-Collins Maria L, Kjellstrand Jean M, Eddy J Mark
Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services, College of Education, University of Oregon, OR Eugene, USA.
Prevention Science Institute, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR USA.
J Child Adolesc Trauma. 2022 Sep 17;16(2):329-338. doi: 10.1007/s40653-022-00490-1. eCollection 2023 Jun.
One in fourteen children in the United States experiences the incarceration of a parent with whom they have lived. Although prior research has established that witnessing the arrest of a parent is a common occurrence for children of criminal justice-involved parents, child outcomes following such an event are understudied. Little is known about the long-term impacts of witnessing an arrest on children and the extent to which they may vary by child age.
Using longitudinal data from the Parent Child Study of mothers and fathers incarcerated in state prison, we examine the witnessing of parental arrest as an acute traumatic event and identify the extent to which this type of trauma predicts externalizing and internalizing symptoms for children during their parents' incarceration and following release.
Witnessing a parent's arrest predicted greater internalizing behavior concerns while parents were incarcerated, with a greater magnitude of effect for children under eight years of age. Six months post-release of the parent, children younger than age eight who witnessed the arrest showed significantly higher internalizing and externalizing behaviors. No effect was found for children ages eight years or older.
Implications for future policies to reduce the likelihood of children witnessing parental arrests, as well as the potential benefit of screening for trauma when working with children with incarcerated parents, are discussed.
在美国，每14个孩子中就有1个经历过与其共同生活的父母被监禁的情况。尽管先前的研究已经证实，目睹父母被捕对于涉及刑事司法系统的父母的孩子来说是常见的事情，但此类事件对孩子的影响尚未得到充分研究。对于目睹父母被捕对孩子的长期影响以及这种影响在不同年龄段孩子中可能存在的差异程度，我们知之甚少。
利用来自对被关押在州监狱的父母及其子女进行的亲子研究的纵向数据，我们将目睹父母被捕视为一种急性创伤事件，并确定这种创伤在多大程度上预示着孩子在父母被监禁期间及获释后的外化和内化症状。
目睹父母被捕预示着在父母被监禁期间孩子会有更多的内化行为问题，对8岁以下的孩子影响更大。在父母获释6个月后，目睹父母被捕的8岁以下孩子表现出明显更高的内化和外化行为。8岁及以上的孩子则未发现有此影响。
讨论了未来政策对于降低孩子目睹父母被捕可能性的意义，以及在与父母被监禁的孩子打交道时进行创伤筛查的潜在益处。
