<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<sec>
<h3>Objective:</h3>
<p>Suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms are often interrelated in clinical settings. Insecure attachment may be a risk factor for suicidal ideation in depressed adolescents. To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine the association between self-reported insecure attachment styles to both parents and suicidal ideation in a clinical sample of adolescents with depression.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Methods:</h3>
<p>Fifty clinically depressed adolescents (13-17 years, 84% girls) completed self-reported measures of suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, and attachment style to parents.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Results:</h3>
<p>There was a statistically significant bivariate association between higher levels of attachment anxiety in relation to mothers and fathers and higher levels of suicidal ideation. When attachments to both parents were included in the same multivariate model, only attachment anxiety to the mother was significantly associated with the level of suicidal ideation. Self-reported depressive symptoms remained significantly associated with the level of suicidal ideation in all analyses. Younger adolescents with attachment anxiety reported higher levels of suicidal ideation than older adolescents.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Conclusion:</h3>
<p>Conclusions about directionality and causality of associations between insecure attachment and suicidal ideation are limited due to the cross-sectional design. Our findings suggest that attachment anxiety in relation to the mother and father is associated with increased levels of suicidal ideation. Implication of these findings for treatment selection is discussed.</p>
</sec>
</abstract>

Objective:
Suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms are often interrelated in clinical settings. Insecure attachment may be a risk factor for suicidal ideation in depressed adolescents. To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine the association between self-reported insecure attachment styles to both parents and suicidal ideation in a clinical sample of adolescents with depression.


Methods:
Fifty clinically depressed adolescents (13-17 years, 84% girls) completed self-reported measures of suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, and attachment style to parents.


Results:
There was a statistically significant bivariate association between higher levels of attachment anxiety in relation to mothers and fathers and higher levels of suicidal ideation. When attachments to both parents were included in the same multivariate model, only attachment anxiety to the mother was significantly associated with the level of suicidal ideation. Self-reported depressive symptoms remained significantly associated with the level of suicidal ideation in all analyses. Younger adolescents with attachment anxiety reported higher levels of suicidal ideation than older adolescents.


Conclusion:
Conclusions about directionality and causality of associations between insecure attachment and suicidal ideation are limited due to the cross-sectional design. Our findings suggest that attachment anxiety in relation to the mother and father is associated with increased levels of suicidal ideation. Implication of these findings for treatment selection is discussed.

Associations between insecure attachment styles to parents and suicidal ideation in adolescents with depression

Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Objective:
Suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms are often interrelated in clinical settings. Insecure attachment may be a risk factor for suicidal...

		Model 0		Model 1			Model 2			Model 3
		Model 0		Insecure attachment styles in relation to mother			Insecure attachment styles in relation to father			Attachment anxiety in relation to mother and father
Independent variable	B	SE	CI (95%)	B	SE	CI (95%)	B	SE	CI (95%)	B	SE	CI (95%)
Gender	-6.65	8.61	[-23.53, 10.23]	-4.02	7.99	[-19.67, 11.63]	-8.14	8.48	[-24.76, 8.48]	-7.60	7.75	[-22.79, 7.60]
Age	-3.80	2.20	[-8.11, .52]	-3.97	1.99	[-7.89, -.06]	-4.84	2.22	[-9.19, -,48]	-4.90	2.03	[-8.87, -.93]
Depression score	1.20	.37	[.47, 1.93]	1.14	.34	[.49, 1.80]	1.11	.35	[.42, 1.80]	1.10	.33	[.43, 1.73]
Attachment avoidance - mother				2.01	2.10	[-2.11, 6.12]
Attachment anxiety - mother				5.65	2.02	[1.69, 9.61]				4.93	2.11	[.80, 9.06]
Attachment avoidance - father							1.18	1.98	[-2.71, 5.07]
Attachment anxiety - father							3.83	1.92	[.06, 7.59]	2.56	1.80	[-.96, 6.08]
R² adj		.26			.40			.34			.42

Variable	N	IQR	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. Suicidal ideation (SIQ)	50	18.75-60.25	40.12	23.48	-
2. Depression score (BDI-II)	49	30-41	35.43	8.76	.54**
3. Age	50	14-16	14.98	1.3	-.19	-.04
4. Gender	50				-.13	-.20	.05
5. Attachment avoidance -mother	49	2.67-4.83	3.72	1.42	.36*	.15	-.04	.15
6. Attachment anxiety - mother	49	1.3-17	2.26	1.36	.36*	.04	.09	.09	.23
7. Attachment avoidance -father	45	3.17-5.58	4.21	1.64	.20	.05	-.1	.11	.23	.12
8. Attachment anxiety - father	45	1.17-4.17	2.79	1.36	.27	.04	.26	-.07	-.09	.45**	.30	-

Associations between insecure attachment styles to parents and suicidal ideation in adolescents with depression

Published Online: Apr 09, 2021

Page range: 41 - 51

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/sjcapp-2021-006

Keywords
Suicidal ideation, attachment, depression, adolescents, family therapy, insecure attachment

© 2021 Luxsiya Waraan et al., published by sciendo.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

FIGURE 1.

Insecure attachment in relation to the mother and father. Multiple linear regression analyses with suicidal ideation as the dependent variable (N=43)

Descriptive statistics and correlation matrix of study variables

Associations between insecure attachment styles to parents and suicidal ideation in adolescents with depression

Published Online: Apr 09, 2021

Page range: 41 - 51

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/sjcapp-2021-006

KeywordsSuicidal ideation, attachment, depression, adolescents, family therapy, insecure attachment

© 2021 Luxsiya Waraan et al., published by sciendo.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

FIGURE 1.

Insecure attachment in relation to the mother and father. Multiple linear regression analyses with suicidal ideation as the dependent variable (N=43)

Descriptive statistics and correlation matrix of study variables

Keywords
Suicidal ideation, attachment, depression, adolescents, family therapy, insecure attachment