<p>Parental incarceration is an important societal issue; yet little is known about the longterm impacts on mental well-being and very little is known about race and ethnic group variability on long-term effects. Using longitudinal data from Waves I -V of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health survey and linear-mixed effect regression models, we fill this gap by investigating the influence of parental incarceration on mental health by race and ethnic groups and exploring possible moderating mechanisms, such as social support, that may decrease inequalities across the life course. We find parental incarceration is associated with greater levels of depression symptoms over time and this association does not vary by race and ethnic minority groups. In addition, one of the four indicators of social support in adolescence did moderate the effect of parental incarceration. Our results indicate that the relationship between parental incarceration and depression is more complicated than the current literature suggests.</p>