Treatment adherence among Latina female adolescent suicide attempters

Clinicians must identify factors among suicide-attempting adolescents and t heir families that increase treatment adherence. Researchers assessed a con secutive series of 140 disenfranchised Latina adolescents (ages 12-18 years ) and their mothers presenting at a large urban emergency room after a suic ide attempt by the adolescent. Adherence was examined as it related to serv ice delivery, individual background characteristics, and psychosocial facto rs (current symptomatology, treatment attitudes). Each factor was found to predict adolescent treatment adherence. Adolescents receiving a specialized emergency room program, those with a diagnosis of disruptive behavior diso rder, and those from single-parent households attended significantly more t herapy sessions compared to their suicide-attempting peers receiving standa rd emergency room care. Adolescents with a diagnosis of anxiety disorders a nd those whose mothers reported more psychopathology and perceived more coh esive family relationships tended to attend significantly fewer treatment s essions. The implications for the delivery of emergency room interventions are discussed.