# Implications of Parental Incarceration for Child Health and Wellbeing

> **NIH NIH R01** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · 2024 · $534,404

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 The proposed project will investigate the impacts of maternal and paternal incarceration on
children’s health and wellbeing from birth to young adulthood. The most rigorous studies to date
have not yielded a consensus on the magnitude, consistency, or even direction of parental
incarceration’s causal effects, particularly for children in high-risk environments. Prior research
on the effects of experiencing parental incarceration is limited by truncated observation periods,
sample attrition, self-report measures of incarceration and child wellbeing, and lack of data on
criminal charges or the context of incarceration itself. In contrast, the proposed study will
construct two statewide birth cohorts (children born 2000-2002 and 2009-2011, totaling
approximately 400,000 children), allowing for assessment of health and development at all
stages of childhood and into early adulthood. Developmental domains include physical and
mental health, cognitive/educational outcomes, and (in adolescence and early adulthood)
pregnancy and parenthood, criminal activity, educational attainment, and employment/earnings.
 In Aim 1, we estimate impacts of maternal and paternal incarceration on children’s health
and wellbeing from birth through early adulthood. We will compare children exposed to parental
incarceration to the general population and to children in various counterfactual conditions (e.g.,
children whose parents are involved with the criminal justice system but not incarcerated). We
account for observable factors that correlate with both parental incarceration and child
wellbeing. We also leverage approaches for isolating causal effects (e.g., within-person
estimation, instrumental variables). In Aim 2, we investigate the contributions of maternal and
paternal incarceration to disparities in health and wellbeing for Black, white and Hispanic
children, with attention to the differences in social and economic opportunities and treatment
within the criminal justice system that underlie disparities in exposure to parental incarceration.
Lastly, in Aim 3, we assess—overall and by race/ethnicity—the role of children’s social
environments prior to maternal or paternal incarceration, and changes to their environments
during and subsequent to parental incarceration, in explaining how and for whom parental
incarceration may impact child health and wellbeing. We consider aspects of the social
environment to include living arrangements (e.g., with a parent, with relatives, in foster care)
before, during, and after parental incarceration, as well as the economic resources and
caregiver characteristics within these environments.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10880548
- **Project number:** 5R01HD107154-03
- **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE
- **Principal Investigator:** Sarah Font
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $534,404
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-20 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10880548

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10880548, Implications of Parental Incarceration for Child Health and Wellbeing (5R01HD107154-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10880548. Licensed CC0.

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