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Changes in Depression and Stress after Release from a Tobacco-Free Prison in the United States

Prior research has found high levels of depression and stress among persons who are incarcerated in the United States (U.S.). However, little is known about changes in depression and stress levels among inmates post-incarceration. The aim of this study was to examine changes in levels of depression...

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Autores principales: van den Berg, Jacob J., Roberts, Mary B., Bock, Beth C., Martin, Rosemarie A., Stein, L.A.R., Parker, Donna R., McGovern, Arthur R., Shuford, Sarah Hart, Clarke, Jennifer G.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4730505/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26771622
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13010114
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author van den Berg, Jacob J.
Roberts, Mary B.
Bock, Beth C.
Martin, Rosemarie A.
Stein, L.A.R.
Parker, Donna R.
McGovern, Arthur R.
Shuford, Sarah Hart
Clarke, Jennifer G.
author_facet van den Berg, Jacob J.
Roberts, Mary B.
Bock, Beth C.
Martin, Rosemarie A.
Stein, L.A.R.
Parker, Donna R.
McGovern, Arthur R.
Shuford, Sarah Hart
Clarke, Jennifer G.
author_sort van den Berg, Jacob J.
collection PubMed
description Prior research has found high levels of depression and stress among persons who are incarcerated in the United States (U.S.). However, little is known about changes in depression and stress levels among inmates post-incarceration. The aim of this study was to examine changes in levels of depression and stress during and after incarceration in a tobacco-free facility. Questionnaires that included valid and reliable measures of depression and stress were completed by 208 male and female inmates approximately eight weeks before and three weeks after release from a northeastern U.S. prison. Although most inmates improved after prison, 30.8% had a worsening in levels of depression between baseline and the three-week follow-up. In addition, 29.8% had a worsening in levels of stress after release than during incarceration. While it is not surprising that the majority of inmates reported lower levels of depression and stress post-incarceration, a sizable minority had an increase in symptoms, suggesting that environmental stressors may be worse in the community than in prison for some inmates. Further research is needed to address depression and stress levels during and after incarceration in order for inmates to have a healthier transition back into the community and to prevent repeat incarcerations.
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spelling pubmed-47305052016-02-11 Changes in Depression and Stress after Release from a Tobacco-Free Prison in the United States van den Berg, Jacob J. Roberts, Mary B. Bock, Beth C. Martin, Rosemarie A. Stein, L.A.R. Parker, Donna R. McGovern, Arthur R. Shuford, Sarah Hart Clarke, Jennifer G. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Prior research has found high levels of depression and stress among persons who are incarcerated in the United States (U.S.). However, little is known about changes in depression and stress levels among inmates post-incarceration. The aim of this study was to examine changes in levels of depression and stress during and after incarceration in a tobacco-free facility. Questionnaires that included valid and reliable measures of depression and stress were completed by 208 male and female inmates approximately eight weeks before and three weeks after release from a northeastern U.S. prison. Although most inmates improved after prison, 30.8% had a worsening in levels of depression between baseline and the three-week follow-up. In addition, 29.8% had a worsening in levels of stress after release than during incarceration. While it is not surprising that the majority of inmates reported lower levels of depression and stress post-incarceration, a sizable minority had an increase in symptoms, suggesting that environmental stressors may be worse in the community than in prison for some inmates. Further research is needed to address depression and stress levels during and after incarceration in order for inmates to have a healthier transition back into the community and to prevent repeat incarcerations. MDPI 2016-01-12 2016-01 /pmc/articles/PMC4730505/ /pubmed/26771622 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13010114 Text en © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons by Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
van den Berg, Jacob J.
Roberts, Mary B.
Bock, Beth C.
Martin, Rosemarie A.
Stein, L.A.R.
Parker, Donna R.
McGovern, Arthur R.
Shuford, Sarah Hart
Clarke, Jennifer G.
Changes in Depression and Stress after Release from a Tobacco-Free Prison in the United States
title Changes in Depression and Stress after Release from a Tobacco-Free Prison in the United States
title_full Changes in Depression and Stress after Release from a Tobacco-Free Prison in the United States
title_fullStr Changes in Depression and Stress after Release from a Tobacco-Free Prison in the United States
title_full_unstemmed Changes in Depression and Stress after Release from a Tobacco-Free Prison in the United States
title_short Changes in Depression and Stress after Release from a Tobacco-Free Prison in the United States
title_sort changes in depression and stress after release from a tobacco-free prison in the united states
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4730505/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26771622
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13010114
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