Dyadic process and dynamics of caregiving and receiving in suicide recovery among Filipino college-aged students and their families

With the increasing incidence of suicidality among the youth, identifying effective care and support that family members provide is essential. Despite numerous studies on the link between suicide mitigation and caregiving, the dyadic process and dynamics of family members supporting youth at risk have been scarcely explored. This study utilizes grounded theory to explore the actions, interactions, and processes involved in caregiving and receiving between five pairs of Filipino family caregivers and college-aged care receivers who recovered from suicidality. The study gave rise to a seven-phase model that characterizes the dynamic dyadic interactions between the family caregiver and the youth care receiver. This is summarized in the acronym C²A²R²E, which means calling-on, contemplating, accepting, allowing, responding, reciprocating, and empowering. This model highlights the processes and dynamics of care within families, which may be useful in paving the way for families and mental health professionals to foster more effective support in mitigating suicidality among youth at risk.