Citation

Connor JJ, Rueter MA. J. Fam. Psychol. 2006; 20(1): 143-155.

Affiliation

Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. conno043@umn.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/0893-3200.20.1.143

PMID

16569099

Abstract

This study examined a process model of predicting adolescent suicidality. Adolescent emotional distress was hypothesized to mediate the relationship between parental behaviors and subsequent adolescent suicidality. The parental behaviors studied included parental warmth and parental hostility. A sample of 451 families from rural Iowa participated in this longitudinal study, which included both observational and self-report data. Models were tested with structural equation modeling. Adolescent emotional distress was found to be a mediating variable between paternal warmth and adolescent suicidality. Results indicated that maternal warmth predicted adolescent suicidality but not emotional distress. Parental hostility did not predict either latent variable. Clinical implications are provided.

Language: en