Adolescent sibling differences in suicidal symptoms: the role of parent-child relationships

This study examined concordance for symptoms of suicide among 178 pairs of adolescent siblings, and the association of youth and maternal reports of parenting with variation in suicide ideation both across families and between siblings. Crosstabulation analyses indicated a significant risk of suicide ideation among siblings of adolescents who had made suicide attempts, as well as a significant degree of concordance for suicide ideation among pairs of siblings. Regression analyses indicated that reported levels of maternal warmth and harsh discipline, especially youth reports, were associated with suicide ideation, and that sibling differences on these parenting indices were associated with differences in suicide ideation both across families as well as between siblings. However, sibling differences in reported parenting did not contribute to prediction of suicide ideation above the variance accounted for by the simple levels of parenting reported by adolescents.