Coparenting and Mental Health in Families with Jailed Parents

Eman Tadros, Kerrie Fanning, Sarah Jensen and Julie Poehlmann-Tynan
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Eman Tadros: Division of Psychology and Counseling, Governers State University, University Park, IL 60441, USA
Kerrie Fanning: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Sarah Jensen: Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Julie Poehlmann-Tynan: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-14

Abstract: The number of families affected by parental incarceration in the United States has increased dramatically in the past three decades, with primarily negative implications for adult mental health and child and family well-being. Despite research documenting increased strain on coparenting relationships, less is known regarding the relation between adult mental health and coparenting quality. This study investigated coparenting in families with young children currently experiencing parental incarceration. In a diverse sample of 86 jailed parent–caregiver dyads ( n = 172), this analysis of a short-term longitudinal study examined the links among jailed parents’ and children’s at-home caregivers’ externalizing mental health symptoms and perceived coparenting alliance quality using the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model. Analyses using structural equation modeling revealed a medium sized negative partner effect for externalizing behaviors on coparenting alliance for jailed parents, wherein caregivers increased externalizing symptoms related to jailed parents’ lower reported coparenting quality. Caregiver–partner effects and both actor effects resulted in small effects. These findings highlight the roles of mental health and coparenting relationship quality when a parent is incarcerated and contribute to the existing literature on incarcerated coparenting, with implications for theory and practice.

Keywords: actor–partner interdependence model; coparenting; family systems theory; incarcerated coparenting; jail; mental health; parental incarceration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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