Addiction Solution Source

In a recently published study in the journal Addiction, researchers from Bowling Green State University report evidence of an association between a father being in jail and elevated risks for illegal drug use in teens.

The researchers are careful to note, however, that this is a non-experimental study, and that the relationships observed are associations, and should not be taken to indicate a causal process. “Further research is needed to more fully examine if it is father’s incarceration, or other closely related factors such as father’s criminality, family histories of drug use, or stresses associated with family instability, that are driving these detrimental relationships”.

Given that having a father in prison is an increasingly common event, this study’s findings suggest that a substantial number of young people in the USA are at risk for drug use. Increased drug use is closely linked to a number of adverse outcomes, including illegal drug market activity, increased crime and incarceration rates, lost work productivity, and costly substance abuse treatment.

“Long-term drug use may exacerbate many other problems faced by disadvantaged youth, including mental health issues, delinquency, dropping out of school, domestic violence and poverty,” says the study’s lead author, Dr. Michael Roettger, a Postdoctoral Fellow with the National Center for Family and Marriage Research. Roettger notes that “this is of particular concern within poor and minority communities where incarcerations are disproportionately located.”

In 2006, nearly 7.5 million children were estimated to have a parent currently in prison or on probation or parole. 13% of young adults in the U.S. report that their fathers had spent time in prison during their childhoods.

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