Center for Latino Research, George Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA.
J Fam Psychol. 2010 Oct;24(5):616-24. doi: 10.1037/a0020584.
National surveys in the U.S. reveal that Latina adolescents have higher rates of suicide attempts than females of other ethnic and racial groups. Past reports indicate that the suicide attempts among Latinas are lodged within family contexts in which sociocultural and individual experiences influence parental and adolescent behaviors. To better understand the parent-adolescent relations that explain the Latina suicidal phenomenon, we examined how the high value on family unity and support, as reflected by familism, and its effects on mother-daughter mutuality (i.e., reciprocal empathy and engagement) were evident in a group of adolescent Latinas with suicide attempts and a group of adolescent Latinas without suicide attempts. Drawing from data on 169 mother-daughter dyads recruited from Latino communities in a Northeastern metropolis and who self-identified as being of Latino origin or heritage, we considered how differences in familism between mothers and daughters influenced their sense of mutuality, the adolescents' internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and suicide attempts. Results show that gaps in familism (mothers scoring higher than their daughters on the scale) predicted less mother-daughter mutuality and more externalizing behaviors in the adolescents. Also, mother-daughter mutuality was negatively related to internalizing and externalizing behaviors which, in turn, predicted suicide attempts. Findings point to further research on family interactions that raise the risk for suicidality in Latino youth, particularly to including fathers and siblings in study designs. Clinical implications point to enhancing family and dyadic communication skills focusing mutuality while observing the cultural value of familism.
美国的全国性调查显示，拉丁裔青少年的自杀未遂率高于其他族裔和种族的女性。过去的报告表明，拉丁裔青少年的自杀未遂行为发生在家庭环境中，其中社会文化和个人经历会影响父母和青少年的行为。为了更好地理解解释拉丁裔自杀现象的父母与青少年关系，我们研究了家庭团结和支持的高度重视（通过家庭主义来体现）及其对母女互惠（即相互共情和参与）的影响，这种影响在一组有自杀未遂经历的拉丁裔青少年和一组没有自杀未遂经历的拉丁裔青少年中表现明显。我们从来自东北部大都市拉丁裔社区的 169 对母女二人组的数据中提取信息，这些母女二人组自我认同为拉丁裔或拉丁裔后裔，并考虑了母亲和女儿之间家庭主义的差异如何影响她们的互惠感、青少年的内化和外化行为以及自杀未遂。结果表明，家庭主义的差距（母亲在量表上的得分高于女儿）预示着母女之间的互惠感较少，青少年的外化行为较多。此外，母女之间的互惠感与内化和外化行为呈负相关，而内化和外化行为反过来又预示着自杀未遂。研究结果表明，需要进一步研究家庭互动，以增加拉丁裔青年自杀的风险，特别是在研究设计中纳入父亲和兄弟姐妹。临床意义表明，要增强家庭和二元沟通技巧，注重互惠性，同时观察家庭主义的文化价值观。
