NCJ Number
182145
Journal
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 39 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2000 Pages: 429-436
Date Published
April 2000
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study examined parents' emotional and verbal reactions to adolescents' suicide attempts and tested models of the interpersonal functions of suicide attempts.
Abstract
A total of 34 mothers and fathers of 23 adolescents who attempted suicide were assessed shortly after the suicide attempt. The assessment focused on their emotional reactions the day before the suicide attempt, upon discovering the suicide attempt, and the day after the suicide attempt. Both open-ended and structured interviews were used. Findings show that feelings of caring, sadness, and anxiety increased from before the suicide attempt to the point of discovery, and for mothers they remained higher through the following day. Hostile feelings were present in approximately 50 percent of mothers across the time points; however, upon discovering the suicide attempt, parents were less likely to verbalize hostility than they were to verbalize support and to be careful what they said. The findings have implications for clinical interventions with parents of recent suicide attempters. Parents of recent suicide attempters might benefit from being informed about the frequencies of the various parental reactions, insofar as that information could aid in normalizing parents' feelings and responses. Further, it may be useful for parents to learn that the suicide attempt may represent the adolescent's unspoken wish for a reconnection. 3 tables and 21 references