Citation

Zayas LH, Bright CL, Alvarez-Sánchez T, Cabassa LJ. J. Prim. Prev. 2009; 30(3-4): 351-369.

Affiliation

Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1196, St. Louis, MO, 63130-4899, USA, lzayas@wustl.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10935-009-0181-0

PMID

19399622

PMCID

PMC2698040

Abstract

We examined the role of acculturation, familism and Latina mother-daughter relations in suicide attempts by comparing 65 adolescents with recent suicide attempts and their mothers to 75 teens without any attempts and their mothers. Attempters and non-attempters were similar in acculturation and familistic attitudes but attempters report significantly less mutuality and communication with their mothers than non-attempters. Mothers of attempters reported lower mutuality and communication with their daughters than mothers of non-attempters. Small increments in mutuality decreased the probability of a suicide attempt by 57%. Acculturation and familism do not appear to play major roles in suicide attempts but relational factors may. Instituting school-based psychoeducational groups for young Latinas, particularly in middle school, and their parents, separately and jointly, and focusing on raising effective communication and mutuality between parents and adolescent daughters are important primary prevention strategies.

Language: en