Mental Health and Behavioral Interventions for Children and Adolescents with Incarcerated Parents: A Systematic Review

Parental incarceration is a traumatic experience that affects millions of children and adolescents worldwide. This population is at an increased risk of suffering from mental health problems and problematic behaviors that can lead to future delinquency, furthering the inter-generational cycle of criminality. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the effectiveness of different types of interventions for the mental health and behavior of children and adolescents with incarcerated parents. The following databases were searched to retrieve relevant studies from 1995 to 2021: PsycINFO, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, Child Development and Adolescent Studies, SocINDEX, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase, and the Web of Science Core Collection. Quality assessment was performed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme qualitative checklist and the “Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies” developed by the Effective Public Health Practice Project. The initial search yielded 2,711 records and 16 studies met the inclusion criteria. The narrative synthesis conducted determined that interventions focusing on improving caregiver outcomes and support, and maternal attachment may be effective in reducing mental health problems and problematic behaviors, however, findings need to be evaluated with regards to the included studies’ quality of evidence since many (n = 7) had a weak rating. Future research should aim to conduct a comparative analysis between the effectiveness of different types of interventions, while focusing on improving the quality of the evidence.