Incarceration in parents of day hospital youth: relationship to parental substance abuse and suspected child abuse/maltreatment.

The number of individuals incarcerated in penal institutions in the United States has increased dramatically in recent years. Children of incarcerated parents have been studied infrequently. They appear to be at high risk for present and future behavioral disorders, although their rate of utilization of mental health services is not known. This study compares a group of behaviorally disturbed children in day hospital treatment who have had incarcerated parents with a group of children without this history who were treated in the same facility at the same time. Children with histories of incarcerated parents account for almost 40% of those treated. They are more likely than their peers without histories of having had an incarcerated parent to have had substance abusing parents and to have been involved in at least one report of suspected child abuse/maltreatment. These variables together are taken as signs of severe family disorganization or dysfunction. In previous studies they have also been associated with poor outcome in mental health treatment. Clinical and social implications of these findings are discussed.