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Incarcerated people often experience victimisation and trauma. Whilst the occurrence of Potentially Traumatic Events (PTEs) withinduring incarceration is acknowledged, little empirical research has examined PTEs that occur during incarceration and their association with PTSD. The current systematic review and meta-analysis sought to explore the association between PTEs during incarceration and PTSD, summarise key characteristics of the existing literature and understand the extent to which specific PTEs and participant characteristics are associated with PTSD. Six studies met the review inclusion criteria. Overall, studies reported high rates of PTEs during incarceration and found significant positive associations between PTEs, including victimisation and abuse, solitary confinement and coercion experienced within incarceration and PTSD outcomes (r = 0.32). Surprisingly, time spent incarcerated and pre-incarceration mental health concerns were not significantly associated with PTSD. The results of this review highlight the detrimental psychological effects of PTEs experienced during incarceration. The associations highlighted underline the need for trauma-informed care and eradication of PTEs within the prison environment. However, there remains a need for methodologically robust studies, in order to increase understanding of the PTSD-related consequences that may arise from incarceration and to optimise the post-release adjustment of prisoners.
Piper et al. (Wed,) studied this question.