Based on Research Conducted at OSLC

Project developed and piloted an emotion-focused intervention to support incarcerated mothers as they leave prison and reunite with their children in the community

Project Overview

The substantial number of parents incarcerated in the criminal justice system has resulted in increased attention to the enormous challenges faced by their children, now numbering over two million. Risk factors associated with incarceration include disruption of parent-child relationships, transitions in living arrangements, financial and other stressors on caregivers, emotional distress, and increased likelihood of behavioral and emotional disorders. Though there is evidence that the impact of parent criminality on child maladjustment can be mediated by parenting practices, there are few programs to promote positive parenting or support the reunification of incarcerated parents and their children after prison. The goals of this project were to develop and pilot a translational multimodal emotion-focused intervention program to improve mothers’ and children’s emotion regulation as well as mothers’ emotion coaching skills in order to facilitate a successful family reunification and promote positive adjustment in a vulnerable population of children.

Year Project Began: 2008
Funder: National Institute of Mental Health

Principal Investigator:

Co-Investigators: