Mental Health and Its Association with Parenting Styles Among Pre-trial Detainees: A Cross-sectional Study

Background While research increasingly examines offender well-being, most studies have focused on criminal psychology or inmate mental health, with pre-trial detainees rarely examined. Crucially, the influence of family members on their psychological states remains poorly understood. This study assessed pre-trial detainees' mental health and parenting styles, explored their correlations, and aimed to inform optimized judicial practices and psychological interventions. Methods This study recruited pre-trial detainees from a district detention center in Shanghai, China, between January and June 2024. National normative data were used as reference benchmarks for the comparison. The Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) and Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran (EMBU) inventory were administered to participants who met the specified inclusion criteria. These instruments were used to comprehensively assess the mental health status and parenting style characteristics of detainees. Subsequently, a detailed analysis was conducted to explore the potential correlations between the mental health status and parenting styles of the participants. Results The overall prevalence of mental health problems among pre-trial detainees, as indicated by an SCL-90 total score exceeding 160, was 22.02%. When using a factor score ≥ 3 as the cutoff, 393 individuals (66.05%) exhibited at least one positive symptom. Compared to normative data, detainees had significantly higher total SCL-90 scores and scores on the somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, psychoticism, and hostility subscales. The EMBU assessment revealed that detainees scored significantly lower than the norm on the parental dimensions of emotional warmth and understanding, overinterference and overprotection, and favoring the subject. Conversely, they scored significantly higher on the parental dimensions of Punitive and Harsh, and Rejection and Denial. Correlation analysis indicated significant associations between detainees' parental rearing styles (particularly the factors Punitive and Harsh, Rejection and Denial, and Over-Interference and Over-Protection) and their mental health status. Conclusion Pre-trial detainees generally suffer from mental health problems that are closely related to adverse parenting styles. Therefore, improving parenting styles has significant practical implications for building a crime prevention system and promoting psychological correction and rehabilitation of detainees.