Alex O Widdowson
Biographic Data
| ID | 4437583 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alex O Widdowson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alex |
| FAMILY NAME | O Widdowson |
| SIGNATURE | WIDDOWSON A O |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Louisville |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1501-7986 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 69 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Do Experiences During Incarceration Mediate the Relationship between Incarceration Length and Labor Market Outcomes? Findings from a U.S. Sample
This study examined possible indirect associations between incarceration length and labor market outcomes. Regression, path, and causal mediation analyses of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 tested the associations among incarceration length, post-release employment, and potential mediators (education and employment programming while incarcerated, distance from home to the correctional facility, and contact with significan…
Investigating the Impact of Prior Criminal Justice Contact on Labor Market Outcomes During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Propensity Score Analysis
Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) and a supplemental COVID sample of NLSY97 respondents, we examined the associations between three measures of criminal justice contact and several indicators of labor market participation during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings indicated that a history of adult criminal justice contact was associated with higher odds of being out of the labor market during th…
Continuity of Offending in Young Adulthood: A Test of Moffitt’s Snares Hypothesis
Moffitt’s snares hypothesis posits that snares—such as addiction to drugs and alcohol, time spent incarcerated, unemployment, teenage parenthood, high school dropout, and disabling injuries—can trap individuals into persistent patterns of offending during periods in the lifecourse when desistance is normative. We test this hypothesis using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to examine the associations and mechanisms between …
The influence of acute life stressors on mass shooter outcomes
Racial and ethnic differences in the consequences of school suspension for arrest
A growing body of literature has demonstrated that when schools suspend students, the suspension acts not as a deterrent but as an amplifier of future punishment. Labeling theory has emerged as the predominant explanation for this phenomenon, suggesting that the symbolic label conferred along with a suspension shapes how other people perceive and respond to labeled students. Few studies, however, have attended to racial/ethnic differences in this…
Juvenile Arrest and Later Economic Attainment: Strength and Mechanisms of the Relationship
The School-to-Gang Pipeline: Examining the Impact of School Suspension on Joining a Gang for the First Time
This study draws on labeling and routine activity theory to examine whether being suspended from school is associated with subsequent gang membership onset. With data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), we estimated discrete time models that predict gang membership onset from ages 12 to 19. The results revealed that being suspended from school at one wave was associated with an increased hazard on gang membership onset a…
Romantic partners and young adult offending: Considering the role of partner's socioeconomic characteristics
In this study, we examined whether and to what extent the effects on offending of marriage and different types of cohabitating partnerships depend on the romantic partner's socioeconomic status (SES). Such research addresses a key gap in knowledge regarding potential heterogeneity of effects on behavior of romantic partnerships. Drawing on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we examined the within‐individual effects of three romantic …
Mass Incarceration and Subsequent Preventive Health Care: Mechanisms and Racial/Ethnic Disparities
Objectives. To examine the associations and mechanisms between 2 indicators of mass incarceration and preventive health care use and whether these associations are moderated by race/ethnicity. Methods. We used 1997 to 2015–2016 data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (n = 7740) to examine the associations between arrest and incarceration at ages 18 to 27 years and cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure screenings at age …
Youth with Co-occurring Delinquency and Depressive Symptoms: Do They Have Better or Worse Delinquent Outcomes
Together despite the odds: Explaining racial and ethnic heterogeneity in union dissolution after incarceration
The U.S. incarceration rate rose dramatically over the past 45 years, increasing the number of marriages and cohabiting unions disrupted by a jail or prison stay. But as some have pointed out, not all unions dissolve as a result of incarceration, and there seems to be racial–ethnic variation in this tendency, with Blacks displaying higher rates of dissolution than Whites and Hispanics. Yet it is unclear what explains racial–ethnic differences in …
Development of impulsivity and risk‐seeking: Implications for the dimensionality and stability of self‐control
In Gottfredson and Hirschi's self‐control theory, introduced in 1990, they contend that self‐control is a unidimensional construct that develops early in childhood and remains stable throughout the life span. According to findings reported in recent research, however, these arguments are now being challenged, with scholars pointing to ways in which self‐control may be multidimensional in nature and may change beyond the period of alleged stabiliz…
Self-control stability and change for incarcerated juvenile offenders
New Students’ Peer Integration and Exposure to Deviant Peers: Spurious Effects of School Moves
School moves during adolescence predict lower peer integration and higher exposure to delinquent peers. Yet mobility and peer problems have several common correlates, so differences in movers' and non-movers' social adjustment may be due to selection rather than to causal effects of school moves. Drawing on survey and social network data from a sample of 7th and 8th graders, this study compared the structure and behavioral content of new students…
The Implications of Arrest for College Enrollment: An Analysis of Long‐term Effects and Mediating Mechanisms
This study draws on labeling theory and education research on the steps to college enrollment to examine 1) whether and for how long arrest reduces the likelihood that high‐school graduates will enroll in postsecondary education and 2) whether any observed relationships are mediated by key steps in the college enrollment process. With 17 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) and propensity score matching, we d…
Internalizing Symptoms, Peer Substance Use, and Substance Use Initiation
This study used longitudinal survey and social network data covering sixth through ninth grades to test whether internalizing symptoms make early adolescents more prone to (1) exposure to and (2) influence by substance-using peers. Random effects regressions revealed that increases in symptoms were significantly associated with increases in the proportion of friends who used cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana; some associations weakened across gr…
Development of impulsivity and risk‐seeking: Implications for the dimensionality and stability of self‐control
In Gottfredson and Hirschi's self‐control theory, introduced in 1990, they contend that self‐control is a unidimensional construct that develops early in childhood and remains stable throughout the life span. According to findings reported in recent research, however, these arguments are now being challenged, with scholars pointing to ways in which self‐control may be multidimensional in nature and may change beyond the period of alleged stabiliz…
The Implications of Arrest for College Enrollment: An Analysis of Long‐term Effects and Mediating Mechanisms
This study draws on labeling theory and education research on the steps to college enrollment to examine 1) whether and for how long arrest reduces the likelihood that high‐school graduates will enroll in postsecondary education and 2) whether any observed relationships are mediated by key steps in the college enrollment process. With 17 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) and propensity score matching, we d…
Together despite the odds: Explaining racial and ethnic heterogeneity in union dissolution after incarceration
The U.S. incarceration rate rose dramatically over the past 45 years, increasing the number of marriages and cohabiting unions disrupted by a jail or prison stay. But as some have pointed out, not all unions dissolve as a result of incarceration, and there seems to be racial–ethnic variation in this tendency, with Blacks displaying higher rates of dissolution than Whites and Hispanics. Yet it is unclear what explains racial–ethnic differences in …
Self-control stability and change for incarcerated juvenile offenders
New Students’ Peer Integration and Exposure to Deviant Peers: Spurious Effects of School Moves
School moves during adolescence predict lower peer integration and higher exposure to delinquent peers. Yet mobility and peer problems have several common correlates, so differences in movers' and non-movers' social adjustment may be due to selection rather than to causal effects of school moves. Drawing on survey and social network data from a sample of 7th and 8th graders, this study compared the structure and behavioral content of new students…
Racial and ethnic differences in the consequences of school suspension for arrest
A growing body of literature has demonstrated that when schools suspend students, the suspension acts not as a deterrent but as an amplifier of future punishment. Labeling theory has emerged as the predominant explanation for this phenomenon, suggesting that the symbolic label conferred along with a suspension shapes how other people perceive and respond to labeled students. Few studies, however, have attended to racial/ethnic differences in this…
Mass Incarceration and Subsequent Preventive Health Care: Mechanisms and Racial/Ethnic Disparities
Objectives. To examine the associations and mechanisms between 2 indicators of mass incarceration and preventive health care use and whether these associations are moderated by race/ethnicity. Methods. We used 1997 to 2015–2016 data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (n = 7740) to examine the associations between arrest and incarceration at ages 18 to 27 years and cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure screenings at age …
Romantic partners and young adult offending: Considering the role of partner's socioeconomic characteristics
In this study, we examined whether and to what extent the effects on offending of marriage and different types of cohabitating partnerships depend on the romantic partner's socioeconomic status (SES). Such research addresses a key gap in knowledge regarding potential heterogeneity of effects on behavior of romantic partnerships. Drawing on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we examined the within‐individual effects of three romantic …
Internalizing Symptoms, Peer Substance Use, and Substance Use Initiation
This study used longitudinal survey and social network data covering sixth through ninth grades to test whether internalizing symptoms make early adolescents more prone to (1) exposure to and (2) influence by substance-using peers. Random effects regressions revealed that increases in symptoms were significantly associated with increases in the proportion of friends who used cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana; some associations weakened across gr…
Youth with Co-occurring Delinquency and Depressive Symptoms: Do They Have Better or Worse Delinquent Outcomes
Internalizing Symptoms, Peer Substance Use, and Substance Use Initiation
This study used longitudinal survey and social network data covering sixth through ninth grades to test whether internalizing symptoms make early adolescents more prone to (1) exposure to and (2) influence by substance-using peers. Random effects regressions revealed that increases in symptoms were significantly associated with increases in the proportion of friends who used cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana; some associations weakened across gr…
New Students’ Peer Integration and Exposure to Deviant Peers: Spurious Effects of School Moves
School moves during adolescence predict lower peer integration and higher exposure to delinquent peers. Yet mobility and peer problems have several common correlates, so differences in movers' and non-movers' social adjustment may be due to selection rather than to causal effects of school moves. Drawing on survey and social network data from a sample of 7th and 8th graders, this study compared the structure and behavioral content of new students…
The Implications of Arrest for College Enrollment: An Analysis of Long‐term Effects and Mediating Mechanisms
This study draws on labeling theory and education research on the steps to college enrollment to examine 1) whether and for how long arrest reduces the likelihood that high‐school graduates will enroll in postsecondary education and 2) whether any observed relationships are mediated by key steps in the college enrollment process. With 17 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) and propensity score matching, we d…
Self-control stability and change for incarcerated juvenile offenders
Development of impulsivity and risk‐seeking: Implications for the dimensionality and stability of self‐control
In Gottfredson and Hirschi's self‐control theory, introduced in 1990, they contend that self‐control is a unidimensional construct that develops early in childhood and remains stable throughout the life span. According to findings reported in recent research, however, these arguments are now being challenged, with scholars pointing to ways in which self‐control may be multidimensional in nature and may change beyond the period of alleged stabiliz…
Mass Incarceration and Subsequent Preventive Health Care: Mechanisms and Racial/Ethnic Disparities
Objectives. To examine the associations and mechanisms between 2 indicators of mass incarceration and preventive health care use and whether these associations are moderated by race/ethnicity. Methods. We used 1997 to 2015–2016 data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (n = 7740) to examine the associations between arrest and incarceration at ages 18 to 27 years and cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure screenings at age …
Youth with Co-occurring Delinquency and Depressive Symptoms: Do They Have Better or Worse Delinquent Outcomes
Together despite the odds: Explaining racial and ethnic heterogeneity in union dissolution after incarceration
The U.S. incarceration rate rose dramatically over the past 45 years, increasing the number of marriages and cohabiting unions disrupted by a jail or prison stay. But as some have pointed out, not all unions dissolve as a result of incarceration, and there seems to be racial–ethnic variation in this tendency, with Blacks displaying higher rates of dissolution than Whites and Hispanics. Yet it is unclear what explains racial–ethnic differences in …
The School-to-Gang Pipeline: Examining the Impact of School Suspension on Joining a Gang for the First Time
This study draws on labeling and routine activity theory to examine whether being suspended from school is associated with subsequent gang membership onset. With data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), we estimated discrete time models that predict gang membership onset from ages 12 to 19. The results revealed that being suspended from school at one wave was associated with an increased hazard on gang membership onset a…
Romantic partners and young adult offending: Considering the role of partner's socioeconomic characteristics
In this study, we examined whether and to what extent the effects on offending of marriage and different types of cohabitating partnerships depend on the romantic partner's socioeconomic status (SES). Such research addresses a key gap in knowledge regarding potential heterogeneity of effects on behavior of romantic partnerships. Drawing on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we examined the within‐individual effects of three romantic …
Juvenile Arrest and Later Economic Attainment: Strength and Mechanisms of the Relationship
Racial and ethnic differences in the consequences of school suspension for arrest
A growing body of literature has demonstrated that when schools suspend students, the suspension acts not as a deterrent but as an amplifier of future punishment. Labeling theory has emerged as the predominant explanation for this phenomenon, suggesting that the symbolic label conferred along with a suspension shapes how other people perceive and respond to labeled students. Few studies, however, have attended to racial/ethnic differences in this…
Continuity of Offending in Young Adulthood: A Test of Moffitt’s Snares Hypothesis
Moffitt’s snares hypothesis posits that snares—such as addiction to drugs and alcohol, time spent incarcerated, unemployment, teenage parenthood, high school dropout, and disabling injuries—can trap individuals into persistent patterns of offending during periods in the lifecourse when desistance is normative. We test this hypothesis using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to examine the associations and mechanisms between …
The influence of acute life stressors on mass shooter outcomes
Investigating the Impact of Prior Criminal Justice Contact on Labor Market Outcomes During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Propensity Score Analysis
Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) and a supplemental COVID sample of NLSY97 respondents, we examined the associations between three measures of criminal justice contact and several indicators of labor market participation during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings indicated that a history of adult criminal justice contact was associated with higher odds of being out of the labor market during th…
Do Experiences During Incarceration Mediate the Relationship between Incarceration Length and Labor Market Outcomes? Findings from a U.S. Sample
This study examined possible indirect associations between incarceration length and labor market outcomes. Regression, path, and causal mediation analyses of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 tested the associations among incarceration length, post-release employment, and potential mediators (education and employment programming while incarcerated, distance from home to the correctional facility, and contact with significan…
Psychology (15 works) · Demography (11 works) · Developmental psychology (10 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (9 works) · Medicine (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (7 works) · Homelessness and Social Issues (7 works) · Demographic economics (6 works) · Demography (6 works)