Depression among incarcerated persons following the death of a loved one: Does social support mitigate grief?

Abstract

The death of a loved one generates adverse and potentially damaging consequences for surviving family members and friends. The challenges of bereavement can be especially severe when experienced by incarcerated persons who must cope with and grieve the death while incarcerated. Yet, limited research evaluates bereavement among incarcerated persons and whether factors such as social support buffer against health-related consequences. Using data from the LoneStar Project—a study of 802 incarcerated men in Texas—we examine depressive symptoms among currently incarcerated persons with differential exposure to a loved one’s death (i.e., immediate family, friends, extended family). Importantly, a high rate of death exists among incarcerated persons’ loved ones, with 41% in the sample losing someone on the outside during their final year of incarceration. However, we find that external social support from family and friends and in-prison social cohesion from peers, significantly mitigate the harms of bereavement on depressive symptoms.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by [Grant No. 2014-MU-CX-0111] awarded by the National Institute of Justice, and [Grant No. 2017-BJ-CX-0014] awarded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, both in the Office of Justice Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice. The research was made possible with the assistance of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). The contents of this article, including its opinions, findings, and conclusions, are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice or the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.