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Parents' reactions to adolescents' suicide attempts
B M Wagner1, C Aiken, P M Mullaley
1Department of Psychology, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA. wagnerb@cua.edu
Objectives:
To examine parents' emotional and verbal reactions to adolescents' suicide attempts and to test models of the interpersonal functions of suicide attempts.
Method:
Thirty-four mothers and fathers of 23 adolescent suicide attempters were assessed shortly after the attempt regarding their emotional reactions the day before, upon discovering, and the day after the suicide attempt, using both open-ended and structured interviews.
Results:
Feelings of caring, sadness, and anxiety increased from before the attempt to the point of discovery, and for mothers they remained higher through the following day. Hostile feelings were present in approximately 50% 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.
Conclusions:
The findings have implications for clinical interventions with parents of recent suicide attempters.