Myriam Forster, Ph.D., M.P.H. (Health Sciences/Public Health) presented the outcomes of her research as the CSUN Jerome Richfield Scholar for 2023 in April at the 2023 Provost's Colloquium. Forster's work focuses on the role of early life course adversity in adolescent and young adult health outcomes, and more specifically, the significant adversity of familial incarceration, which impacts millions of US children. These are children who are predominantly youth of color and youth living in low-income communities.
The term "Adverse Childhood Experiences" (ACE) encompasses a range of adverse experiences ranging from verbal, physical or sexual abuse to the divorce of parents, or parental substance use, intimate partner violence, incarceration, mental illness or suicide. These kinds of experiences affect two-thirds of the US adult population, and the research field is wide. Forster is focused on one particularly significant ACE: household incarceration. Whether this is a parent, sibling, or even an extended relative, the impact is significant and needs to be understood.
As mentioned above, the children and teens affected are predominantly youth of color and youth living in low-income communities, and where one ACE exists, there are usually concomitant ones. "Youth whose families interact with the criminal justice system can experience upward of 3 ACE and the joint effects of household incarceration, correlated familial adversities, and structural disadvantage increase the risk for substance use, leaving school prematurely, behavioral problems, and interactions with the justice system themselves," Forster said.
Forster determined that despite these negative trends, there are few prevention programs or programs that facilitate resilient functioning. Such programs would prevent risky trajectories among youth affected by familial incarceration. She further determined that none have been evaluated.
She gathered qualitative data through interviews--talking with youth and caregivers about their lived experiences, as well as quantitative data during the first year of an NIH funded project, “Supporting Student Health and Resilience (SHARE).” SHARE evaluated a school-based program that was delivered in diverse urban and rural communities across four states. It was designed specifically for teens with incarcerated family members.
In her lecture for the Provost's Colloquium, Forster provided an overview of the impact of familial incarceration on socioemotional development, peer relationships, and school engagement among rural and urban youth. She also discussed the affects of both change and stability across psychological, behavioral, and social domains of functioning among youth who participated in the program. These were youth whose families interacted with the justice system but who had no support programs. She also looked at general population students in these contexts. Finally, she explored partnerships across schools and states and the training of student scholars.
Among her findings was that University-community partnerships are essential to the development and evaluation of programs that are designed to promote resilience among vulnerable youth. Health equity in the context of socioeconomic and racial disparities in adolescent development are key components of public health research and practice.
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