Proliferation or adaptation? Differences across race and sex in the relationship between time served in prison and mental health symptoms

Guided by stress proliferation and adaptation perspectives, this study investigates competing hypotheses for the relationship between time served in prison and mental health symptoms. Drawing on data from the Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities in 2004 (N = 12,118), our findings suggest that time served is correlated with mental health symptoms, but that the association differs across race and sex. White males exhibit fewer mental health symptoms at longer exposures to prison, while black males and black females exhibit more symptoms. We conclude that both incarceration dosage (treatment heterogeneity) and differences across groups (effect heterogeneity) may be important considerations in understanding the relationship between incarceration and mental health.