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Remarkably little is known regarding the temporal course of adolescent suicidal ideation and behavior, the prediction of suicidal attempts from changes in suicidal ideation, or the prediction of suicidal attempts after accounting for suicidal ideation as a predictor. A sample of 143 adolescents 12-15 years old was assessed during psychiatric inpatient hospitalization and again at 3, 6, 9, 15, and 18 months postdischarge through a series of structured interviews and parent-and adolescentreported instruments. Symptoms of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, externalizing psychopathology, hopelessness, and engagement in several forms of self-injurious/suicidal behaviors (i.e., suicide threats/gestures, plans, nonsuicidal self-injury [NSSI]) were assessed. Latent growth curve analyses revealed a period of suicidal ideation remission between baseline and 6 months following discharge, as well as a subtle period of suicidal ideation reemergence between 9 and 18 months postdischarge. Changes in suicidal ideation predicted suicide attempts. After accounting for the effects of suicidal ideation, baseline suicide threats/gestures also predicted future suicide attempts. Higher adolescent-reported depressive symptoms, lower parentreported externalizing symptoms, and higher frequencies of NSSI predicted weaker suicidal ideation remission slopes. Findings underscore the need for more longitudinal research on the course of adolescent suicidality. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptRecent data indicate that suicidal ideation, attempts, and completed suicide continue to occur at alarming rates, especially among youth (Kessler, Berglund, Borges, Nock, & Wang, 2005; World Health Organization [WHO], 2005). In addition, epidemiological data suggest that the transition to adolescence represents a critical developmental vulnerability period for increased suicidal behavior. For instance, in the United States, suicide currently is the third leading cause of adolescent death, and the rate increases sixfold during the transition from childhood to adolescence (from 1.3 to 8.6 per 100,000; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2006). This developmental period also brings a dramatic increase in the occurrence of the immediate precursors to suicide death, including suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts (e.g., Kessler, Borges, & Walters, 1999). National data from community-based samples of high school students indicate high rates of 12-month suicidal ideation (16.9%), suicide plans (13.0%), suicide attempts (8.4%), and suicide attempts requiring medical treatment (2.3%; CDC, 2006) by adolescence. For these reasons, the study of suicidal behaviors at the transition stage to adolescence is of especially high priority (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2000[HHS], , 2001; U.S. Public Health Service, 1999; WHO, 2005).Yet data bearing on some fundamental aspects of adolescent suicidal behavior are surprisingly unavailable. This is due in large part to the existence ...

A transactional, interpersonal framework involving adolescents' reassurance-seeking and peer experiences may be useful for understanding the emergence of gender differences in depression prevalence during the adolescent transition. Sociometric nominations of peer acceptance/rejection and ratings of friendship quality provided by adolescents and their friends were used to measure peer experiences among 6th-8th-grade adolescents (N=520) over 3 annual time points. After controlling for age and pubertal development, significant but small prospective effects offered mixed support for hypotheses: (a) depressive symptoms and negative peer relations predicted increasing levels of girls' reassurance-seeking; (b) initial levels of reassurance-seeking and depressive symptoms predicted deteriorating friendship quality among girls and low friendship stability, respectively; and (c) reassurance-seeking combined with poor peer experiences predicted increases in girls' depressive symptoms.

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This study examined hostile intent and causal, critical self-referent attributions for ambiguous peer cues to examine the hypothesis that these latter interpretations would be uniquely associated with symptoms of depression, social anxiety, and loneliness. Critical self-referent attributions were assessed in 116 kindergarteners (Study 1) and 159 adolescents (Study 2) using a hypothetical vignette procedure, replicating past work on social information processing. In both samples, critical self-referent attributions were concurrently associated with depressive symptoms as reported by teacher (Study 1), peer, and self-report (Study 2). Critical self-referent attributions also were concurrently associated with loneliness and with actual peer experiences, including peer rejection in both studies. Results from both studies support a cognitive vulnerability-stress model, suggesting that the tendency to derive critical self-referent attributions from ambiguous peer experiences is most closely associated with depressive symptoms when accompanied by high levels of peer victimization. Longitudinal findings (Study 2) offers preliminary evidence for this cognitive vulnerability-stress model as a predictor of adolescents' depressive symptoms over a 17-month interval.

How Chinese immigrant mothers perceive “Chinese” and “U.S.” parenting and changes in their parenting postmigration remains unclear, despite recent interest in Chinese parenting particularly in response to A. Chua's (2011) controversial book on “Tiger Mothers”. The present study addressed this issue by examining the parenting beliefs and practices of Chinese immigrant mothers through qualitative interviews. Participants included 50 first-generation Chinese immigrant mothers (mean age = 38.39 years; SD = 5.19) with a 3- to 6-year-old child. Mothers had been in the U.S. for an average of 10.20 years and were interviewed regarding their perceptions of the contrasts between typical Chinese and U.S. parenting, the strengths of Chinese and U.S. parenting, and what changes (if any) occurred in their own parenting after they migrated to the U.S. Mothers identified key differences between the parenting in the 2 cultures across 4 themes. Importantly, mothers endorsed different aspects of parenting from both cultures and attempted to achieve a balance between supporting their child's development of autonomy and individuality versus maintaining a sense of relatedness and familism in their parenting, contrary to Chua's (2011) portrayal of rigid “Chinese parenting.” With regard to their parenting acculturation, mothers discussed having to be flexible across different areas of their parenting in order to accommodate the cultural values of the larger societal context and promote their child's development in the U.S. These complex dynamics highlighted the challenges that Chinese immigrant mothers face as they adapt and adjust to the new cultural context, and how their parenting beliefs and practices acculturate.

The moderating effect of maternal behavior in the relations between social reticence and shyness in preschool and subsequent social withdrawal was investigated. Eighty children (47 females) were judged for degree of social reticence during play with unfamiliar peers at the age of four and mothers completed the Colorado child temperament inventory (CCTI). At the age of seven, the children were coded for degree of social withdrawal during peer play and mothers and children were observed during structured and unstructured activities. Two significant interaction effects indicated that maternal report of shyness was a positive predictor of age-seven social withdrawal when mothers lacked positivity; whereas observed social reticence was associated with higher degrees of social withdrawal when mothers were highly negative. Maternal positivity and negativity differentially influenced the development of social withdrawal in childhood, such that maternal negativity is associated with poor social functioning in children who have an established history of social withdrawal; whereas maternal positivity is associated with better social outcome for preschoolers who are viewed as temperamentally shy.

Behavioral inhibition (BI) and maternal over-control are early risk factors for later childhood internalizing problems, particularly social anxiety disorder (SAD). Consistently high BI across childhood appears to confer risk for the onset of SAD by adolescence. However, no prior studies have prospectively examined observed maternal over-control as a risk factor for adolescent social anxiety (SA) among children initially selected for BI. The present prospective longitudinal study examines the direct and indirect relations between these early risk factors and adolescent SA symptoms and SAD, using a multi-method approach. The sample consisted of 176 participants initially recruited as infants and assessed for temperamental reactivity to novel stimuli at age 4 months. BI was measured via observations and parent-report across multiple assessments between the ages of 14 months and 7 years. Maternal over-control was assessed observationally during parent-child interaction tasks at 7 years. Adolescents (ages 14-17 years) and parents provided independent reports of adolescent SA symptoms. Results indicated that higher maternal over-control at 7 years predicted higher SA symptoms and lifetime rates of SAD during adolescence. Additionally, there was a significant interaction between consistently high BI and maternal over-control, such that patterns of consistently high BI predicted higher adolescent SA symptoms in the presence of high maternal over-control. High BI across childhood was not significantly associated with adolescent SA symptoms when children experienced low maternal over-control. These findings have the potential to inform prevention and early intervention programs by identifying particularly at-risk youth and specific targets of treatment.