Adult Children of the Prison Boom: Family Troubles and the Intergenerational Transmission of Criminal Justice Contact.

Intergenerational transmission processes have long been of interest to demographers, but prior research on the intergenerational transmission of criminal justice contact is relatively sparse and limited by its lack of attention to the correlated "family troubles" and familial incarceration that predate criminal justice contact. In this article, we provide a test of the intergenerational transmission of criminal justice contact after adjusting extensively for these factors that predate such contact by linking longitudinal data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods with official arrest histories from 1995 to 2020. The results provide support for three conclusions. First, parental criminal justice contact is associated with a shorter time to first arrest and a larger number of arrests even after rigorously accounting for selection. Second, robustness checks demonstrate that neither the magnitude nor the significance of the findings is sensitive to model choices. Third, associations are strongest among White individuals and inconsistently significant for African American and Hispanic individuals. Despite large recent crime declines, the results indicate that parental criminal justice contact elevates the criminal justice contact of the adult children of the prison boom, independent of the often-overlooked troubles that predate criminal justice contact, and that these associations are strongest among the White population.

Intergenerational trauma: A silent contributor to mental health deterioration in Afghanistan.

Multiple theories, including family systems, epigenetics, attachments, and many others, have proposed mechanisms for trauma transmission from generation to generation. Intergenerational trauma is today one of the most important psychosocial issues affecting Afghans' mental health and psychology, with the potential to affect subsequent generations. A variety of factors have impacted the mental health of the Afghan population over the years, including years of conflict, socioeconomic instability, natural disasters, chronic drought conditions, economic turmoil, and food insecurity, all of which have been exacerbated by recent political turbulence and the The Coronavirus pandemic COVID-19 pandemic that has further increased the susceptibility to intergenerational trauma among the Afghan population. International bodies must play a role in addressing intergenerational trauma among Afghans. Breaking the chain in future generations will be possible by resolving political issues, providing adequate health facilities, financial support, and eliminating stigmas associated with mental health issues.

An epigenetic, transgenerational model of increased mental health disorders in children, adolescents and young adults.

Prevalence rates of mental health disorders in children and adolescents have increased two to threefold from the 1990s to 2016. Some increase in prevalence may stem from changing environmental conditions in the current generation which interact with genes and inherited genetic variants. Current measured genetic variant effects do not explain fully the familial clustering and high heritability estimates in the population. Another model considers environmental conditions shifting in the previous generation, which altered brain circuits epigenetically and were transmitted to offspring via non-DNA-based mechanisms (intergenerational and transgenerational effects). Parental substance use, poor diet and obesity are environmental factors with known epigenetic intergenerational and transgenerational effects, that regulate set points in brain pathways integrating sensory-motor, reward and feeding behaviors. Using summary statistics for eleven neuropsychiatric and three metabolic disorders from 128,989 families, an epigenetic effect explains more of the estimated heritability when a portion of parental environmental effects are transmitted to offspring alongside additive genetic variance.

The role of parental negative world assumptions in the intergenerational transmission of war trauma.

PURPOSE: Among the most prevalent and adverse sequalae of traumatic experiences are negative world assumptions (WAs), which describe trauma-related negative cognitions regarding the self, the world, and others. Even though a wealth of studies has shown intrapersonal associations between negative WAs and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), there has been little research on how WAs may affect family systems. This study examined the intergenerational associations between parental WAs, paternal PTSS, and maternal secondary traumatic stress (STS) on adult-children's STS in veterans' families. It was hypothesized that negative paternal WAs would mediate the association between parental PTSS/STS and adult-children's STS. METHODS: Three domains of WAs (benevolence of the world, meaningfulness of the world, and self-worth) and PTSS were prospectively assessed in 123 father-mother-offspring triads of former Israeli veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, their wives and adult offspring. Data were collected in 2003, 2008, and 2014, and analyzed using triadic path modeling. RESULTS: Mothers' STS was associated with children's STS via negative maternal WAs on world benevolence. Fathers' PTSS was related to children's STS via fathers' WAs on world benevolence and self-worth. Moreover, fathers' WAs on world benevolence and self-worth mediated the intergenerational transmission of STS from mothers to offspring. No effects were found for meaningfulness WAs. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that parental WAs related to world benevolence and paternal self-worth contribute to intergenerational trauma transmission. Clinical implications favor cognitive and systemic approaches to therapy that address negative benevolence and self-worth assumptions and involve the entire family system.

Identifying subgroups of refugees from Syria resettled in Sweden based on multiple trauma exposures: A latent class analysis of trauma history and mental health outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: Many refugees have been subjected to pre-migratory trauma. Evidence is needed to address the heterogeneity within refugee populations in regard to patterns of multiple trauma exposures. This study identified subgroups within a refugee population displaying different profiles of multiple trauma exposures and assessed sociodemographic predictors and differences in mental health symptom severity across these classes. METHODS: Study population consisted of 1215 refugees from Syria resettled in Sweden. Latent class analysis 3-step method for modelling predictors and outcomes and a class-specific weighted multigroup approach were used to identify classes of refugees using self-reported data on violent and non-violent trauma exposures, sociodemographic variables and symptom severity scores for depression, anxiety and PTSD. RESULTS: Three classes were identified: class 1 'multiple violent and non-violent trauma' (39.3%, n = 546); class 2 'witnessing violence and multiple non-violent trauma' (40.8%, n = 569); and class 3 'low multiple non-violent trauma' (20.1%, n = 281). Trauma exposure and gender significantly predicted class membership. Male gender and highest severity of mental ill health defined class 1. Female gender predicted higher mental ill health within classes 1 and 2. Across all three classes living with a partner was associated with lower severity of mental ill health regardless of trauma exposure classes. CONCLUSIONS: There are distinct patterns within refugee populations concerning exposure to multiple trauma. Violence is a primary marker for higher likelihood of multiple trauma exposures and severity of mental health. Gender predisposes individuals to trauma exposure and its outcomes differentially.