Social Support Buffers Life Stress on Suicidality

What is it about?

There is a large literature demonstrating the causal relationship between life stress and suicidal thoughts and behaviors during adolescence. The stress-buffering model proposes that social support reduces the impact of negative life events, possibly by offsetting the burden of stress via coping assistance. The current study investigated the stress-buffering hypothesis by examining the impact of social support on the association between life stress and suicidal symptoms in a sample of adolescent girls.

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Why is it important?

Our study improves upon many of the limitations of prior stress-buffering investigations by using multiple measures of life stress (interpersonal and non-interpersonal), social support (parent and peer), and psychopathology (suicidality and dysphoria) in a large-scale longitudinal design. The results from our study provide support for the stress-buffering model, particularly when examining parental support in the context of interpersonal life stress on suicidal symptoms. These findings are consistent with several prominent theories of suicide. Importantly, the current study suggests that interventions promoting social support, specifically those aimed at improving the parent-child relationship and increasing parental support (e.g., Family Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), may be beneficial in preventing the onset of suicidal thoughts and behaviors for adolescent girls.