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Religious beliefs can reduce suicidal thinking in adolescents, just as in adults. To determine the influence of parental religiosity on adolescents' suicidality, researchers analyzed data from a 30-year study of three generations of families in which the grandparents did or did not have a history of major depression (families with high or low risk for depression).
The data included prospectively obtained formal diagnoses and self-reports of suicidal ideation and attempts, reported belief in importance of religion or spirituality, and frequency of religious service attendance in 112 parents (mean age, 40) and 214 of their juvenile offspring (mean age, 13). Of the offspring, 85% were Protestant or Catholic.
In analyses with multiple statistical…