The mental health of imprisoned mothers of young children: a follow-up study

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the mental health, social outcomes and needs of mothers who had been in prison when their children were infants. The mean time between first interview and follow-up was 4.53 years. Mothers who had been in a prison mother and baby unit (MBU) were compared with women who had been separated from infants whilst in prison. Of 167 interviewed previously, 87 were located, and 60 completed a semi-structured interview. Prevalence of depression and hazardous drinking were higher at follow-up. Those not caring for the index child at follow-up were more likely to have an interview diagnosis of personality disorder or psychotic disorder and to have been reconvicted than those who were. Seventy-seven percent of children who were in prison MBUs were being cared for by their mother at follow-up compared to 20% of those who had been separated in prison.

Keywords:

• prison
• motherhood
• mental disorder
• follow-up

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding received from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) – Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB; PB-PG-0408-14245). Ethical approval was granted by the South-East Multicentre Research Ethics Committee (MREC: 08/H1102/95). The authors would also like to thank the study participants for taking part in this research.