Citation

Summerville MB, Kaslow NJ, Abbate MF, Cronan S. J. Abnorm. Child Psychol. 1994; 22(2): 221-235.

Affiliation

Grady Memorial Hospital, Emory University, School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30335.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1994, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8064030

Abstract

This study examined psychopathology, family functioning, and cognitive style in 121 African-American adolescents who attempted suicide. Group means suggested that these youths, when taken together, were not reporting significant psychological distress. However, after classifying the youths into three groups by level of depressive symptoms interesting findings emerged. Youth self-reports of depressive symptoms on the Children's Depression Inventory were associated with the presence of internalizing and externalizing disorders on the Youth Self-Report and Child Behavior Checklist, and with a maladaptive attributional style. Sixty-seven percent of participants classified their family types as maladaptive in terms of levels of cohesion and/or adaptability. In fact, the majority of adolescents and parents reported their families as disengaged. These findings are discussed from a culturally and developmentally sensitive framework which considers key demographic variables (race, socioeconomic status, age). Clinical implications are offered for individual and family interventions.

Language: en