The health impacts on women with loved ones behind bars

Authors Durante et al. reused data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering (MFS-IP), 5 U.S. States, 2008-2014 to examine factors that influence the physical and mental health of an understudied and vulnerable population–women with incarcerated partners. Available from ICPSR’s Member Archive, the MFS-IP provides survey data collected in three waves over 18 months from incarcerated men and from the women who were their intimate or co-parenting partners. It includes measures of financial challenges, relationship instability, social/personal supports, and self-rated physical and mental health. These were the key variables of interest in the authors’ analysis, which used data from women whose partners remained incarcerated across the duration of the MFS-IP study. Having longitudinal data allowed Durante et al. to use more robust modeling, not only comparing the effects of incarceration between women, but also examining the impact over time on each individual woman. They gained critical insight into the predictors of sub-optimal mental and physical health in this population, as well as what interventions were most associated with lowering the odds of each.