Adolescent suicide. A comparison of attempters and nonattempters in an emergency room population.

Forty-six adolescent suicide attempters and their parents were compared with 46 adolescent nonattempters and their parents using various measures of family conflict, family cohesion, and parenteral maladaptive behavior. Data analysis indicated several significant differences between these two family groups in these dependent measures of family functioning, suggesting that the family milieu plays an important role in the etiology of adolescent suicidal behavior.