The Bidirectional Longitudinal Relationship Between Family Affective Responsiveness and Suicidal Ideation Among Adolescents: Mediation by Depressive Symptoms

Family functioning has been confirmed to predict adolescent suicidal ideation (SI). However, the relationships between specific dimensions of family functioning and SI, as well as related mediating mechanisms, remain unclear. Based on the McMaster Model of Family Functioning, this study aims to examine the bidirectional longitudinal relationships between family affective responsiveness (i.e., a dimension of family functioning) and SI intensity and frequency, as well as the mediating effects of depressive symptoms in these relationships among adolescents. A total of 712 adolescents (55.8% females; M = 15.20, SD = 1.43) completed questionnaires and were surveyed three times, six months apart. Using random intercept cross-lagged panel model analysis, this study found that at the within-person level, family affective responsiveness influenced SI intensity twelve months later through depressive symptoms six months later, and both SI intensity and frequency influenced family affective responsiveness twelve months later through depressive symptoms six months later. The findings indicate that temporal bidirectional relationships between family affective responsiveness, adolescent depressive symptoms, and adolescent SI exist and may eventually develop into vicious cycles. Breaking the vicious cycles and preventing the deterioration of SI is the key point of interventions.