Parental incarceration and the social-emotional health and development of children

项目摘要/摘要 意义：大约7%的美国儿童--以及近四分之一的黑人儿童--将经历 父母在18岁之前被监禁，使他们处于社会情绪发育不良的风险增加。 以政策为基础的解决办法，增加参与刑事司法系统的家庭的经济福祉 可能会为改善儿童的福祉提供希望。有犯罪记录的人不太可能被雇用， 通常工作的工资更低，福利更少。因此，有犯罪记录的父母可能会减少 提供资源，为儿童的福祉做出贡献。一些州已经采取了限制 在招聘过程中如何考虑犯罪记录。保护性就业政策可以改善 父亲通过增加父亲就业而有犯罪记录的子女的社会情绪健康 通过减少对有记录的人的污名化来改善父亲的抑郁。 具体目标：本项目将(1)确定国家级就业政策对社会-- 父亲有犯罪记录的子女的情绪幸福感，(2)评估父亲的就业状况 和抑郁症作为州一级就业政策影响儿童的潜在机制 父亲有犯罪记录，以及(3)评估州一级就业政策的影响如何因种族而异。 方法：拟议的分析将利用来自两个来源的数据：(1)脆弱的家庭和儿童 幸福研究是对美国20个大城市的低收入儿童及其大部分未婚父母的出生队列研究。 以及(2)关于有犯罪记录的人面临的法律障碍的国家级政策信息。来解释一下 分层设计(嵌套在州内的族)，此分析将使用混合效应线性回归来 建立就业政策对儿童福祉影响的模型。将使用基于回归的中介分析 为了测试潜在的调解人，将使用分层分析来评估按种族划分的不同政策效果。 奖学金信息：申请人是明尼苏达大学流行病学博士生， NICHD资助的人口健康科学T32培训项目的博士前实习生。穿过 关于政策评估、犯罪学和心理健康的课程和指导，以及关于 拟议的培训计划将建立在贝里女士现有的基础上，传达调查结果并撰写赠款 研究技能。这次培训将提高她完成毕业论文研究的能力，成为一名 独立的社会流行病学研究员，在社会政策对儿童健康的影响方面具有专业知识。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Significance: Approximately 7% of all US children—and nearly a quarter of Black children—will experience parental incarceration before age 18, placing them at an increased risk of poor social-emotional development. Policy-based solutions that increase the economic wellbeing of families involved in the criminal justice system may offer promise for improving child wellbeing. Individuals with criminal records are less likely to be hired and often work for lower wages and fewer benefits. As a result, parents with criminal records may have fewer resources to contribute to establishing their children’s wellbeing. Some states have adopted policies that limit how criminal records are considered during hiring processes. Protective employment policies could improve the social-emotional health of children whose fathers have criminal records by increasing paternal employment prospects and by improving paternal depression via reduced stigmatization of people with records. Specific Aims: This project will (1) identify the impact of state-level employment policies on the social- emotional wellbeing of children whose fathers have criminal records, (2) evaluate father’s employment status and depression as potential mechanisms through which state-level employment policies affect children whose fathers have criminal records, and (3) assess how the impact of state-level employment policies differs by race. Approach: The proposed analysis will leverage data from two sources: (1) the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort of low-income children in 20 large US cities and their mostly unmarried parents, and (2) state-level policy information on legal barriers faced by people with criminal records. To account for the hierarchical design (families nested within states), this analysis will use mixed effects linear regressions to model the impact of employment policy on child wellbeing. Regression-based mediation analyses will be used to test potential mediators and stratified analyses will be used to evaluate differential policy effects by race. Fellowship Information: The applicant is a PhD student in Epidemiology at the University of Minnesota and a predoctoral trainee on the NICHD-funded T32 training program in Population Health Science. Through coursework and mentoring on policy evaluation, criminology, and mental health along with guidance on communicating findings and writing grants, the proposed training plan will build on Ms. Berry’s existing research skills. This training will enhance her ability to complete her dissertation research and become an independent social epidemiology researcher with expertise on the impact of social policy on child health.