Mental Health Among Incarcerated Women: An Examination of Factors Impacting Depression and PTSD Symptomology

Abstract

Female offenders experience mental health symptoms at a higher rate than male offenders and females in the community. The current study investigated individual characteristics and experiences that may impact symptoms of depressive disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among a sample of female inmates in a large Southern prison system. Results showed high rates of reported childhood and adult victimization experiences among the sample. Factors such as seeking mental health treatment prior to incarceration significantly impacted the reporting of depressive and PTSD symptoms, as did victimization histories. Findings suggest that women would benefit from screening to identify mental health needs at the onset of incarceration as well as gender responsive needs assessment and programming to address histories of victimization and current mental health symptomatology.

KEYWORDS:

• depression
• female offenders
• mental health
• PTSD
• victimization

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The research described in this document was coordinated in part by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (Research Agreement #716-AR14). The contents of this document reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Additional information

Funding

Data collection for this research was supported in part by a University of Houston Downtown Organized Research and Creative Activities grant awarded in December 2015 and PI Research Funds from Sam Houston State University.