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- Title
Parents' Adverse and Positive Childhood Experiences and Offspring Involvement With the Criminal Legal System.
- Authors
Barnert, Elizabeth S.; Schlichte, Lindsay M.; Tolliver, Destiny G.; La Charite, Jaime; Biely, Christopher; Dudovitz, Rebecca; Leifheit, Kathryn; Russ, Shirley; Sastry, Narayan; Yama, Cecile; Slavich, George M.; Schickedanz, Adam
- Abstract
Key Points: Question: Are parents' adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and positive childhood experiences associated with their children's involvement in criminal legal systems across the carceral continuum? Findings: This cohort study of 1854 adult children found that having 4 or more parental ACEs was associated with 1.91-fold higher adjusted odds of arrest and 3.22-fold higher adjusted odds of conviction before age 26 years, compared with children of parents without ACEs. Associations persisted after controlling for parental positive childhood experiences. Meaning: These findings suggest that higher parental ACEs are associated with greater odds of their children's arrest and conviction in the US criminal legal system; addressing and preventing childhood adversity through multigenerational life course approaches may help disrupt intergenerational pathways to the criminal legal system. This cohort study investigates the association of parents' adverse and positive childhood experiences with their adult children's involvement in US legal systems, from arrest to conviction. Importance: Intergenerational cycles of adversity likely increase one's risk of criminal legal system involvement, yet associations with potential contributors, such as parents' adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and positive childhood experiences (PCEs), have not been explored. Objective: To investigate the association of parents' ACEs and PCEs with their adult children's involvement in US legal systems, from arrest to conviction. Design, Setting, and Participants: The study team analyzed data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), a nationally representative cohort study of families in the US. PSID-2013 survey data were merged with the 2014 PSID Childhood Retrospective Circumstances Study (CRCS), collected May 2014 to January 2015, which asked adults aged 18 to 97 years to retrospectively report on their childhood experiences. Parents and their adult children were linked in the data set. Data were analyzed from October 2022 to September 2023. Main Outcomes and Measures: The child arrest outcome was regressed on parents' ACE and PCE scores using logistic regression models. In addition, multinomial logistic regression models were used to assess the associations of parents' ACE and PCE scores with the number of times their child was arrested and convicted. Results: Of 12 985 eligible individuals, 8072 completed the CRCS. Among CRCS participants, there were 1854 eligible parent-child dyads (ie, parents and their adult children) that formed the analytic sample. The mean (SD) age of offspring at the time of CRCS completion was 38.5 (10.9) years, and 1076 offspring (51.3%) were female. Having 4 or more parental ACEs was associated with 1.91-fold (95% CI, 1.14-3.22) higher adjusted odds of arrest before age 26 and 3.22-fold (95% CI, 1.62-6.40) higher adjusted odds of conviction before age 26 years, compared with children of parents without ACEs. These associations persisted after controlling for parental PCEs. Conclusions and Relevance: In this nationally representative study, children of parents with higher ACEs were at greater risk of arrest during adolescence and young adulthood, even after controlling for parents' PCEs. Addressing and preventing childhood adversity through multigenerational life course approaches may help disrupt intergenerational pathways to the criminal legal system.
- Subjects
UNITED States; ADVERSE childhood experiences; PSYCHOLOGY of parents; CRIME; PSYCHOLOGY of adult children; SURVEYS; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; RESEARCH funding; LEGAL status of prisoners; SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC factors; LOGISTIC regression analysis
- Publication
JAMA Network Open, 2023, Vol 6, Issue 10, pe2339648
- ISSN
2574-3805
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.39648