Perceived parenting profiles and adolescents’ suicidal behaviors: Direct associations and gender differences

Abstract

Parenting styles (i.e., parental warmth, rejection, and overprotection) were found to have different effects on adolescents’ suicidal ideation (SI) and suicidal attempts (SA). However, the impact of different combinations of parenting styles on adolescents’ SI and SA and their potential roles in explaining gender differences in SI/SA remains to be studied. This study aims to address these questions. A total of 6,461 Chinese adolescents (M _age = 14.88, SD _age = 0.86; 54.4 % males) were recruited to complete self-report measures, regarding perceived parenting style, SI, SA, and other demographic information. Latent profile analysis and the manual Bolck-Croon-Hagenaars method were used to test the hypotheses. Four parenting profiles (i.e., supportive parenting, highly engaged parenting, disengaged parenting, and harsh parenting) were identified. Adolescents in harsh parenting and disengaged parenting showed high suicide risk, whereas supportive parenting and highly engaged parenting showed low suicide risk. Girls across all profiles exhibited elevated levels of SI than boys, with only girls exposed to harsh parenting exhibiting higher levels of SA than boys within the same profile. The gender differences in SI significantly expanded in the harsh parenting profile. Findings revealed the different effects of parenting profiles on adolescents’ SI and SA and further indicated that these profiles moderated the gender differences in SI/SA. Researchers should continue to examine the mechanism underlying this process and develop specific intervention strategies for adolescents targeting negative parenting environment.