Anyone involved in legal proceedings will warn you that a long-drawn-out legal battle will drain your mental health. This study aimed to assess the psychological effects of being processed by the justice system. The sample consisted of 360 subjects, residents in Spain. Were administered a questionnaire on the experience of contact with the justice system, a temporal perspective inventory, locus of control, psychological reactance, coping strategies, health self-efficacy, and psychosomatic symptomology. Results revealed significant differences between plaintiffs and defendants, although it was also confirmed that both parties showed greater pessimism about the future. So, the former were more pessimistic about the future, used poor strategies for protecting their health, and had less empathy. In contrast, coincidentally in some variables, defendants had a more negative outlook on life, and in general more psychosomatic symptomology. The health of the group with the longest exposure to legal proceedings was the most deteriorated.
Keywords: defendants; family law; justice system; legal psychology; litigation; mental health; plaintiffs.
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