Attachment Organization and History of Suicidal Behavior in Clinical Adolescents

64 adolescents without histories of suicidal ideation or behaviors were compared with a case group of 69 adolescents with histories of suicidal behavior & severe suicidal ideation in order to investigate the association of attachment patterns with a history of suicidal behaviors. Results suggest that cognitive disorganization may be an important variable mediating between traumatic experience & suicidal behavior. Preoccupied attachment was associated with the case group, whereas dismissing attachment was associated with the comparison group. (46 refs)