Romantic attachment, childhood stability, depression, and PTSD in couples with an incarcerated partner

Abstract

Incarceration has a multitude of effects on prisoners’ finances, health, education, employment, and family relationships. Incarceration complicates the maintenance of attachment bonds between romantic partners. Data from the Multi‐site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering were analyzed to examine the effects of childhood stability on adult romantic attachment while controlling for the effects of PTSD and depression within the carceral population. Findings indicate that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression have statistically significant effects on adult romantic attachment. PTSD on romantic attachment for men is statistically significant (p < 0.05) at −0.193 with an overall standardized effect of −0.086. For women, the effect is statistically significant (p < 0.01) at −0.235 with an overall standardized effect of −0.1. Effects of depression on romantic attachment for men is statistically significant (p < 0.001) −0.129 with an overall standardized effect of −0.229. For women, depression is also statistically significant (p < 0.001) at −0.153 with a standardized effect of −0.265. We examined the effects of childhood stability on adult romantic attachment while controlling for the effects of PTSD and depression within the carceral population. Findings supported our hypothesis that individuals with better childhood stability will experience better romantic attachments. Findings related to our hypothesis that having a partner with better childhood stability is positively associated with better romantic attachment produced mixed results. Clinical implications are discussed, and future directions call for research, practice, and training to improve outcomes for justice‐involved romantic partners, their attachment, and consideration of covariates of depression and PTSD.

Life in the hole: The impact of solitary confinement in the United States

“…Imprisonment has been shown to impact families in several ways, including communication problems (DeHart, Shapiro & Clone, 2018; Tadros, Fye & Ray, 2020), strain on romantic relationships (Tadros & Ansell, 2022; Tadros & Gregorash, 2022; Tadros & Vlach, 2022; Tadros, Presley & Gomez, 2022; Tadros et al., 2022; Turney, 2015), significant financial investment (Bruns, 2019), and coparenting challenges (Tadros, 2022; Tadros & Durante, 2022; Tadros et al., 2022; Tadros et al., 2021; Tadros & Presley, 2022). Solitary confinement exacerbates these challenges.…”

Missing Moments and Requesting Encouragement: The Experiences and Consequences of Having an Incarcerated Loved One

“…In 2023, the Sentencing Project launched a campaign entitled "50 Years and a Wake Up" to highlight the use of mass incarceration for the last half century (The Sentencing Project, 2023). Throughout these last several decades, data exploring the impact of incarceration has highlighted its negative mental and physical health effects for those behind bars, and their romantic partners, family units, and communities (Durante et al, 2022;McKay et al, 2018;Tadros & Ansell, 2022;Tadros et al, 2020;Tadros & Gregorash, 2022;Tadros & Vlach, 2022). The stress connected with the isolation of imprisonment can produce trauma (Alves et al, 2016;Folk et al, 2019;Yi et al, 2017), and the physical separation of incarceration, exacerbated by costly phone calls and visits, can increase stress for all those connected to the criminal legal system (Tadros et al, 2020).…”

“Not for the Weak”: The Lived Experience of Women in Romantic Relationships With Incarcerated Individuals

“…The overall stress of a family member being incarcerated is noteworthy, for all members of the family system (DeHart et al, 2018). Incarceration has shown to cause negative effects and dysfunction within coparenting relationships (Tadros & Ansell, 2022; Tadros, Durante et al, 2021; 2022; Tadros & Durante, 2022; Tadros, Fanning et al, 2021; Tadros & Ogden, 2020). Given that high-quality romantic relationships are positively associated with healthy parenting and relationship longevity among adults, as well as positively associated with child well-being, it’s critical to understand the potentially complex relationship between incarceration and relationship quality (Turney, 2015).…”