Race-gender variation in the relationship between arrest history and poor health from adolescence to adulthood

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine how criminal justice involvement, specifically arrests, shapes health by race-gender status and age for Black, Latinx, and White men and women from adolescence to adulthood.

Method: Data were from sixteen waves (1997-2013) of data of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (N = 7,674). Respondents were 12-16 years during the first wave of the survey. Multivariate logistic regression with interactions were used to determine how age and race-gender status shape the association between poor health and arrests over time.

Results: With the exception of Black men, arrest history is positively associated with the probability of poor health and this relationship strengthens with age. Arrests have the least detrimental impact on the health of Black men. For those without an arrest history, the probability of poor health also increases with age, but with a less steep incline over time than those who have been arrested. Overall, women who have been arrested, regardless of race, have the worst health prospects.

Conclusions: A history of arrest is important for health from adolescence to adulthood and varies by race-gender status and age. Those without arrests in their backgrounds enjoy better health at both younger and older ages. For those who experience arrest, they generally report poorer health from adolescence into adulthood. One exception is Black men for whom those with an arrest history report the lowest probability of poor health, compared to Black women, Latinx men, Latinx women, White men, and White women.

Keywords: Age; Arrests; Criminal justice involvement; Gender; Race; Self-rated health.