Suicide attempts, parent-adolescent conflict, familism, self-esteem, and internalizing behaviors in adolescent Latinas

Purpose: Parent-adolescent conflict has been shown to be related to adolescent risk behaviors, self-esteem and mental health outcomes. However, little has been examined about how the conflict that adolescent Latinas experience with their parents affects their self-esteem and internalizing behaviors, and how conflict relates to the likelihood of attempting suicide. Similarly, there is also a paucity of research about suicide attempts and the Latino cultural value known as familism. Familism is shown in research with Latino populations to be a protective factor against parent-adolescent conflict, negative mental health outcomes and risk behaviors. This study explored the relationships between parent-adolescent conflict, familism, self-esteem, internalizing behaviors and suicide attempts in adolescent Latinas.

Method: Data were collected via questionnaires administered to a sample of 106 Latina adolescent suicide attempters and a comparison group of 102 non-attempters with similar demographic characteristics, all living in the New York City area, as part of a larger research project studying the sociocultural processes of Latina adolescent suicide attempters. Structural equation modeling and path analysis were used to examine the relationships between parent-adolescent conflict and familism to suicide attempts, mediated by adolescent self-esteem and internalizing behaviors. Measures used to evaluate these relationships included the Hispanic Familism Scale (Lugo Steidel, & Contreras, 2003), items from the Child Behavior Questionaire (CBQ: Robin & Foster, 1989), the internalizing behaviors subscale of the Youth Self Report (YSR: Achenbach, 1991), and the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (RSES: Rosenberg, 1965).

Results: Analyses that included covariates for parent education level and adolescent age showed that familism is a cultural asset associated with higher adolescent self-esteem and reduced levels of parent-adolescent conflict. However, it is also associated with higher levels of internalizing behaviors. Parent-adolescent conflict was the strongest risk factor associated with higher levels of internalizing behaviors, lower levels of self-esteem, and higher risk for adolescent suicide attempts. Additional analyses suggest that internalizing behaviors and self-esteem partially mediated the effects of parent-adolescent conflict on suicide attempts, indicating that parent-adolescent conflict remains a strong factor in predicting suicide attempts even with the inclusion of these mediators.

Implications: Our findings point to the interactive process that young Latinas report as influencing their suicide attempts. It appears that parent-adolescent conflict is both a direct and indirect influence on suicidal behavior among Latinas, with a relationship to individual and family-related factors on the girls' inclination to attempt suicide. Possible aspects of Hispanic familism that could explain its relationship to increased internalizing behaviors in adolescent girls are introduced. Implications for culturally competent programs and social work practice focusing on reducing the conflict in the relationship between Latino parents and their adolescent daughters, and in strengthening protective factors are discussed.