Can family member incarceration during adolescence impact young adult substance use?

Introduction

Although the prevalence of household incarceration in the United States is unknown, research suggests that family incarceration can have considerable consequences for children. This study assessed whether having a history of family incarceration (e.g., parent, sibling, other family member) during childhood predicted past month vaping, alcohol, cannabis, or polysubstance use in young adulthood and if these associations varied across urban and rural contexts.

Methods

Data are survey responses (linked to geospatial indices of neighborhood socioeconomic status and urbanicity) of diverse young adults (N = 778) who participated in a study from high school (age∼15) until one year after graduation (age∼19). GLMs tested hypothesized relationships of family member incarceration during childhood/adolescence and past 30-day vaping, alcohol, cannabis, and polysubstance use in young adulthood across urbanicity. Models adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, state, family stressors (e.g., household substance use, mental illness, divorce, domestic violence), adolescent substance use, and socioeconomic status.

Results

Participants were ethnically diverse, 55% were female, and over 30% reported family member incarceration during childhood/adolescence. At age 19, 20% acknowledged polysubstance use (more than one); 24% reported past 30-day alcohol use followed by cannabis use (19%), and vaping (13%). Young adults with a history family incarceration had two, four, and five times the odds of past 30-day alcohol (AOR: 4.01, 95% CI:2.48-6.12), cannabis (AOR: 2.02, 95% CI: 1.09-3.72), vaping (AOR: 2.52, 95% CI: 1.38-4.26) or polysubstance use (AOR: 5.37, 95% CI: 3.05-8.21) than their peers adjusting for covariates. Except for cannabis, these associations were more pronounced in rural vs. urban settings (ps< .05).

Conclusions

Developing programs that support youth with traumatic stressors such as family member incarceration are critical to prevent risky substance use trajectories.

Key messages

• Having a history of family incarceration during adolescence, in a U.S. sample, predicted past-month vaping, alcohol, cannabis, and polysubstance use in young adulthood.

• The impact of family incarceration during adolescence on past-month substance use in young adulthood is more pronounced in rural vs. urban settings.