Emotional variability and late adolescent suicidal ideation: Buffering role of parent-youth connectedness.

Abstract

Emotional variability has been identified as a risk factor for adolescent psychopathology. This study explored the cross-sectional and prospective associations between emotional variability and suicidal ideation and examined the moderating role of parent-adolescent connectedness. Participants included 108 Taiwanese late adolescents (Mage = 18.53, SDage = 0.39; 64% female) who completed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) over 14 days, and baseline and follow-up assessments over 6 months. Results indicated that while negative emotional (NE) and positive emotional (PE) variability were not associated with suicidal ideation at baseline, both predicted increased suicidal ideation 6 months later. Furthermore, parent-adolescent connectedness moderated the relationship between NE variability and suicidal ideation, with high connectedness mitigating the adverse effects of NE variability. These findings suggest that emotional variability is a key predictor for the development of suicidal ideation and highlight the protective role of parent-adolescent connectedness. Interventions promoting family connectedness may be effective in reducing suicidal risk among emotionally variable youth.