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Abstract
Background: The literature supports the notion that suicidal adolescents are poor copers. However it is still unclear what contributes to their poor coping.
Aims: The present study explored the possibility that female adolescents' suicidal behavior is an imitation of their mothers' tendency to escape active and problem-focused coping.
Method: Female adolescents who appeared in a hospital emergency room because of suicidal behavior (SB), and a control group (non-SB) completed Carver, Scheier and Weintraub's (1989) COPE inventory and Shanan and Nissan's (Citation) Active Coping Test. Their mothers also completed the COPE inventory.
Results: Hardly any significant differences between SB and non-SB were found, both for female adolescents and for their mothers. Nevertheless, significant age effects were evident, indicating that mothers tend to use more problem-focused coping while adolescents tend to use more disengagement. Moreover, mother-adolescent correlations were significant only for non-SB, except for a significant negative correlation between SB adolescents and their mothers in seeking emotional social support.
Conclusions: Results highlight the possibility that only non-SB – but not SB – female adolescents are exposed to a maternal model of positive coping behavior.