Examining the relationship between childhood victimization, health risk behaviors, and adult physical health outcomes among women on probation and parole.

This study aims to begin to identify and describe the pathways through which childhood victimization negatively affects adult physical health. In particular, the proposed research will examine the relationship among childhood victimization, health risk behaviors and adult physical health in a population of criminal justice involved women. Previous research has depicted a relationship between childhood victimization, and physical health outcomes, but there is scant research that examines why this relationship exist. Among the most frequent health risk behaviors are alcoholism, smoking, illicit drug use and sexual risk behaviors. Health risk behaviors are highly intertwined with the bio-psycho-social factors that result from childhood victimization and directly contribute and complicate adult health outcomes. In general, research has shown that early adversities, including victimization, poverty, parental substance abuse and poor family functioning, have long-term impacts on one’s health and well-being in adulthood (Springer, Sheridan, Kuo, & Carnes, 2003). Researchers and theorists agree that the leading causes of morbidity and mortality have been directly linked to health behavior and lifestyle factors, with current research showing that victimization and other childhood experiences contribute to the development of these health risk behaviors. Specifically, women involved in the criminal justice system demonstrate higher rates of and more extensive childhood victimization histories when compared to women in the general population (Brier & Jordan, 2004; Brown, Miller, & Maguin, 1999; Covington, 2003; McDaniels-Wilson & Belknap, 2008; Tripodi & Pettus-Davis, 2013). Histories of early trauma among women offenders has been shown to increase the likelihood of future violence, chronic addiction, criminal activity, homelessness and health problems, both physical and mental health (Anderson, Rosay, & Saum, 2002; Bloom, Owen, & Covington, 2004; Grella, Stein, & Greenwell, 2005; Haller & Miles, 2004; Messina et al., 2003; Messina & Grella, 2006). The present sample consisted of 406 women on probation and parole with a history of childhood victimization in Jefferson County, Kentucky. Structural equation modeling was utilized to examine the relationship between the constructs. Results of the final model (χ2= 26.459, p=.090; TLI= .976; CFI= .985; RMSEA= .038; SRMR=.0505) provided good fit to the data. The findings of the model indicate that there is a direct effect of childhood victimization on perception of physical health, with every one unit of increase in childhood victimization resulting in .014 increase in worse health perception, when controlling for health risk behaviors. Additionally, childhood victimization had an effect on health risk behaviors, there was a .10 increase in health risk behaviors for every one unit of increase in childhood victimization. In terms of the relationship between the health risk behavioral pathway and perception of physical health, for every unit of increase for health risk behaviors there was a .02 increase in negative health perception when controlling for childhood victimization. Lastly, the findings indicate partial mediation, with health risk behaviors accounting for 12.5% of the variance in the relationship between childhood victimization and health perception. Implications for policy and treatment practice in the public health and healthcare arenas are discussed, including increased access to services, screening procedures, interdisciplinary service teams and integration of drug and mental health treatment in the criminal justice system

Correlates of HIV Risks Among Women on Probation and Parole

This article examines HIV risks among a sample of 406 women on probation and parole with lifetime histories of victimization who were recruited from an urban community in the southern U.S. Guided by the Comprehensive Health Seeking and Coping Paradigm, we analyze the significance of sociodemographic characteristics, substance use, posttraumatic stress disorder, and social support in relationship to three sexual risks and one drug use risk using multivariable regression. Findings indicate that substance use is a significant correlate of nearly all HIV risks examined, including lifetime sexual partners and sexual partners during the past 12 months. Age, race/ethnicity, homelessness, lifetime traumatic event exposure, regular use of alcohol to intoxication and other drugs, functional social support, and substance use treatment in the past 12 months are associated with specific HIV risks. The findings identify potential targets to address in HIV prevention with women on probation and parole who have experienced victimization

Promoting Reentry Well-Being: A Novel Assessment Tool for Individualized Service Assignment in Prisoner Reentry Programs

Reentry programs in the United States absorb a steady stream of former prisoners, and many of these individuals have multiple service needs that are not fully met by one-size-fits-all approaches to treatment. In this Practice Update, the authors describe the Reentry Well-Being Assessment Tool, which is designed to facilitate the assignment of individualized treatment services in such programs. The authors provide specific guidance on treatment principles and targets, implementation, and fidelity monitoring, emphasizing the tool’s ability to tailor services to individual needs

“…he’s going to be facing the same things that he faced prior to being locked up”: perceptions of service needs for substance use disorders

BACKGROUND: High rates of substance use disorders (SUDs) exist among justice-involved populations (i.e., persons incarcerated or recently released). SUD treatment is crucial for justice-involved populations as unmet treatment need increases reincarceration risk and impacts other behavioral health sequalae. A limited understanding of health needs (i.e. health literacy) can be one reason for unmet treatment needs. Social support is critical to seeking SUD treatment and post-incarceration outcomes. However, little is known about how social support partners understand and influence SUD service utilization among formerly incarcerated persons. METHODS: This mixed method, exploratory study utilized data from a larger study comprised of formerly incarcerated men (n = 57) and their selected social support partners (n = 57) to identify how social support partners understand the service needs of their loved ones recently released from prison who returned to the community with a diagnosis of a SUD. Qualitative data included 87 semi-structured interviews with the social support partners covering post-release experiences with their formerly incarcerated loved one. Univariates were conducted on the quantitative service utilization data and demographics to complement the qualitative data. RESULTS: Majority of the formerly incarcerated men identified as African American (91%) averaging 29 years of age (SD = 9.58). Most social support partners were a parent (49%). Qualitative analyses revealed that most social support partners avoided using or did not know the language to use regarding the formerly incarcerated person's SUD. Treatment needs were often attributed to focus on peer influences and spending more time at their residence/housing. Analyses did reveal that when treatment needs were recommended in the interviews, social support partners reported employment and education services to be most needed for the formerly incarcerated person. These findings align with the univariate analysis with their loved ones reporting employment (52%) and education (26%) as their most reported service utilized post-release, compared to only 4% using substance abuse treatment. CONCLUSION: Results provide preliminary evidence suggesting social support partners do influence the types of services accessed by formerly incarcerated persons with SUD. The findings of this study emphasize the need for psychoeducation during and after incarceration for individuals with SUDs and their social support partners

Correlates of HIV Risks Among Women on Probation and Parole

This article examines HIV risks among a sample of 406 women on probation and parole with lifetime histories of victimization who were recruited from an urban community in the southern U.S. Guided by the Comprehensive Health Seeking and Coping Paradigm, we analyze the significance of sociodemographic characteristics, substance use, posttraumatic stress disorder, and social support in relationship to three sexual risks and one drug use risk using multivariable regression. Findings indicate that substance use is a significant correlate of nearly all HIV risks examined, including lifetime sexual partners and sexual partners during the past 12 months. Age, race/ethnicity, homelessness, lifetime traumatic event exposure, regular use of alcohol to intoxication and other drugs, functional social support, and substance use treatment in the past 12 months are associated with specific HIV risks. The findings identify potential targets to address in HIV prevention with women on probation and parole who have experienced victimization

Pathways to Recidivism for Women Released From Prison: A Mediated Model of Abuse, Mental Health Issues, and Substance Use

This study uses structural equation modeling to determine whether there are direct and indirect relationships between childhood trauma and recidivism for 230 women from two state prisons in North Carolina. The researchers obtained a random sample from all women scheduled to be released between 30 and 120 days from data collection. Findings indicated that childhood trauma was not significantly related to recidivism for this sample, but there was an indirect relationship with depression being the intervening variable accounting for the relationship between childhood trauma and recidivism. Results lend support to the importance of addressing incarcerated women’s trauma before release, while also assessing for depression and using empirically supported interventions to treat depression when applicable

Childhood Victimization, Attachment, Psychological Distress, and Substance Use Among Women on Probation and Parole

The present analysis was guided by a gendered pathways-based theoretical model and examined relationships between childhood victimization and current attachment, psychological distress, and substance use among 406 women with histories of victimization who were on probation and parole in an urban Kentucky county. Structural equation modeling examined relationships among childhood victimization, attachment, psychological distress, and substance use. Additionally, we examined the mediational role that attachment plays in relationships between childhood victimization and both psychological distress and substance use. The data fit the models properly. Psychological distress was significantly predicted by childhood victimization, and adult attachment partially mediated this relationship. Childhood victimization did not significantly predict substance use; however, attachment did. The findings suggest that attachment may be an important factor to further understand and address in relation to psychological distress and substance use among women with histories of victimization who are involved in the criminal justice system

sj-docx-1-rsw-10.1177_10497315241229681 - Supplemental material for Validation of a Multi-Dimensional Social Support Measure for Individuals Who Are Incarcerated

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-rsw-10.1177_10497315241229681 for Validation of a Multi-Dimensional Social Support Measure for Individuals Who Are Incarcerated by Elizabeth Curley, Michael Killian, Tanya Renn, Christopher Veeh and Carrie Pettus in Research on Social Work Practice</p