Youth with Critical Parents Perceive More Social Threat During Real-World Peer Interaction: A Study in Adolescent Girls at High Risk for Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors

Negative parenting behaviors, such as parental criticism, may shape how youth perceive and respond to their day-to-day social experiences, with potential ramifications for social connectedness – a key protective factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The goal of this study was therefore to examine relations between parental criticism and adolescents’ perceptions of social threat and reward during day-to-day peer interactions. Informed by emotion socialization and stress sensitization frameworks, we predicted that adolescents with a critical parent would report (i) greater perceptions of social threat and (ii) lower perceptions of social reward during day-to-day peer interactions than adolescents without a critical parent. Participants were 99 adolescents aged 12-17 and their parents recruited from the community. All adolescents were assigned female at birth and 68.3% were at high risk for self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. Parents completed the Five Minute Speech Sample to assess levels of parental criticism. Adolescents completed baseline questionnaires and a 10-day ecological momentary assessment protocol. A series of multilevel models tested associations between levels of parental criticism and adolescents’ perceptions of their day-to-day peer interactions. Adolescents with critical parents perceived higher levels of social threat, but not lower social reward, during their real-world peer interactions. Results suggest that exposure to parental criticism may sensitize these vulnerable youth to future social stressors, which may have important implications for future suicidal thoughts and behaviors.