Vicarious and Contingent Consequences of Adolescent Police Exposure

Kristin Turney , University of California, Irvine

Police stops are a pervasive form of criminal justice contact with adverse consequences for mental health. Yet the mental health consequences of criminal justice contact likely proliferate, vicariously, to family members connected to those stopped by the police. In this article, I draw on the stress process perspective to examine how and under what conditions adolescent police stops are deleterious for the mental health of adolescents’ mothers. The results, based on data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, suggest three conclusions. First, the mental health consequences of adolescent police stops proliferate vicariously, increasing depression and anxiety among adolescents’ mothers. Second, the relationship between adolescent police stops and mothers’ mental health is contingent, especially concentrated among mothers with prior exposure to the criminal justice system. Third, emotional support buffers the relationship between adolescent police stops and mothers’ mental health.

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 Presented in Session 243. Child and Youth Exposures to Criminal Justice Systems