The association between parental marriage satisfaction and adolescent suicidal ideation: The moderating effect of breastfeeding duration

• Published in: Children and youth services review 2020-11, Vol.118, p.105459, Article 105459
• Main Authors: Chen, Jianwen, Zheng, Xintong, Li, Congcong, Xiong, Qing, Yu, Quanlei, Shi, Shuping, Hu, Yiqiu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Attachment; Breastfeeding & lactation; Breastfeeding duration; Hypotheses; Marriage; Marriage satisfaction; Mental health; Middle school students; Middle schools; Parents & parenting; Predictions; Satisfaction; Self report; Suicidal ideation; Suicide; Suicide ideation; Suicides & suicide attempts; Teenagers
• ISSN: 0190-7409; 1873-7765
• DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105459

•Parental marital satisfaction (PMS) correlates with youth suicidal ideation (YSI).•Breastfeeding attenuates the effect of PMS on YSI.•The effect of PMS on YSI is significant when breastfeeding duration is short.•The effect of PMS on YSI is insignificant when breastfeeding duration is long. Previous studies have shown that parental marriage satisfaction is a crucial cause of adolescent suicide. Short breastfeeding duration may not satisfy the individual sense of security, resulting in insecure attachment patterns that reinforce the impact of adverse external environment on individual mental health. Therefore, the duration of breastfeeding may influence the effect of marriage satisfaction on adolescent suicidal ideation. To explore this hypothesis, this study recruited 610 middle school students and their parents as participants, and adopted self-report method to measure the duration of breastfeeding, marriage satisfaction and adolescent suicidal ideation. The results showed that the marriage satisfaction of parents negatively predicted the suicidal ideation of adolescents significantly, and the duration of breastfeeding moderated the effect of marriage satisfaction on suicidal ideation of adolescents. Furthermore, when the breastfeeding duration was short, parental marriage satisfaction negatively predicted adolescent suicide ideation, however, when the breastfeeding duration was long, the predictive effect of marriage satisfaction on adolescent suicide ideation was reduced to insignificant. The results support the hypothesis of this study, and the research conclusion has certain theoretical and practical significance for the prevention of adolescent suicide.