Family environment as a moderator of the association between anxiety and suicidal ideation

Abstract

The present study examined associations among anxiety symptoms, anxiety disorder diagnoses, perceptions of family support and conflict, and suicidal ideation (SI) in a clinical sample of psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents. Participants were 185 adolescents (72% female; 84% white, mean age = 15.02 years, SD = 1.33) hospitalized on an acute psychiatric inpatient unit. Results indicated that anxiety disorders and symptoms were positively associated with SI, even after controlling for mood disorder diagnoses and sex. Moreover, this relationship was stronger among youth who reported lower (versus higher) levels of family support. Family conflict was positively associated with SI but did not moderate the relationship between anxiety and SI. Results suggest that family support may represent an important intervention target to decrease suicide risk among anxious youth. Integrating positive parenting techniques (e.g., attending to positive behaviors, providing praise, emotion coaching) and effective parent-child communication into treatment with anxious youth may help achieve this aim.

The Relationship Between Difficulties in Daily Living and Suicidal Ideation Among Older Adults

“…Li (2015) found that older adults with good support from children and neighbors were less likely to have SI. Machell et al (2016) found that adolescent perceptions of family conflict demonstrated an independent association with SI. In agreement with these studies, the current study also indicated the important role of family support in SI.…”

The Underlying Mechanisms of Psychological Resilience on Emotional Experience: Attention-Bias or Emotion Disengagement

“…Indeed, individuals with higher levels of resilience were less likely to suffer from anxiety and depression by linking the results that they evaluate the same thing more positively, and less psychological resources were needed to cope with life-threatening events. The review of Schiele and Domschke (2018) showed that resilient function was associated with positive cognitive emotion regulation strategies, which could decrease the risk of suffering from mental disorders such as depression or anxiety.…”

Childhood adversity and risk of suicide: cohort study of 548 721 adolescents and young adults in Sweden

“…Moreover, a chaotic household seems to increase the suicide risk among young people, and previous findings have identified family support as an important intervention target to decrease suicide risk among anxious young people. 55 Family support and involvement in intervention for those at risk is another potentially successful pathway. 56 Lastly, the fact that indicators of childhood adversity often co-occur might have important implications for intervention.…”