The Impact of Parental Suicide Stigma on Youth Suicide Stigma in Mexico

Background and Purpose: Suicide is a global health concern. Recent data indicates that 703,000 people die by suicide annually worldwide. A particular area of concern is the prevalence of suicide among youth. As of 2019, suicide was the fourth leading cause of death worldwide for individuals ages 15-29. Latino youth may constitute a particularly vulnerable population as research indicates that suicide behaviors among Latinos have increased drastically over the last decade. In 2020, suicide was the third leading cause of death for Latino youth ages 15-24. Reducing suicide stigma is a key factor in promoting youth help-seeking behaviors regarding suicidality. Additionally, previous research suggests that a relationship with a trusted adult influences the likelihood of an adolescent contacting a suicide crisis line. This study seeks to understand if parent suicide stigma is related to their child’s suicide stigma.

Method: Data was collected via email from 373 parent-child dyads. The final sample included dyads from each Mexican state. Youth participants needed to be between the ages of 14-17 and living with at least one parent/guardian who was also willing to complete a survey. The Stigma of Suicide Scale Short Form was used to measure suicide stigma among adult and youth participants independently.

Results: Approximately 48% of youth participants were female and 52% were male; whereas 71% of adult participants were female and 29% were male. The primary variable of interest, parent suicide stigma, was a statistically significant predictor of youth suicide stigma (b = 0.74, p < 0.001). Youth gender was also a predictor of youth suicide stigma (b = 0.22, p < 0.01). The final regression model accounted for 49% of the variance seen in youth suicide stigma within this study (R² = 0.49).

Conclusion and Implications: These results align with previous research suggesting that parent and youth stigma scores would be positively correlated. Interestingly, average parent stigma scores were lower than youth stigma scores across all but one question on the suicide stigma scale. This could be due to the disparity in the gender of adult participants compared to youth participants. The adult sample had a disproportionately large number of female participants compared to the youth sample. This could be influential as research shows males are more likely than females to exhibit suicide stigma.

If future research reinforces the findings of this study, suicide stigma programs might be more effective if targeted at the entire family unit, rather than just adolescents. Additionally, researchers may consider studying the role of parental influence in the development of youth suicide stigma from a young age. Further research could also potentially inform our understanding of generational decreases in suicide stigma.