Characteristics of Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents with Cohabiting Separated Parents

Introduction: Adolescence involves several changes and challenges in its period of development, in which parenting plays an important role. However, parents’ separation has a negative influence on the school psychological well-being of adolescents, contrary to parents who live together with their children. Among the several psychological problems, suicidal ideation is a frequent one. Objective: Identify if there are differences in suicidal ideation in a group of Peruvian adolescents with cohabiting separated parents. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a quantitative and comparative approach was carried out. A convenience sample of 475 adolescents, who answered to a self-report of suicidal ideation, was analyzed. The Mann-Whitney U test for bayesian independent samples was used to compare both groups. Results: Bayesian analysis showed that the observed data were more probable under the alternative hypothesis (BF10 = 51,727, δ = -0,380, 95 % CI: -0,574-0,196), with very strong evidence. This difference was higher in adolescents with separated parents (M = 9, 99) compared to cohabiting parents (M = 7, 98). Conclusions: The findings showed that suicidal ideation is mostly in adolescents with separated parents, being the most vulnerable group and requiring more psychological support. The parental separation is an adverse experience in adolescence, being advisable that health professionals, when interviewing adolescents with separated parents, consider the assessment of suicidal ideation in their professional practice.