The purpose of the current investigation was to add to the small database of prospective studies of SA in youth that span childhood and adolescence and include detailed interviews from parents and children (Fergusson et al., 2000; King et al., 2010; Lieb et al., 2005; Melhem et al., 2007), and to conduct the first such study in children of parents with AUD. Informed by Brent and Mann’s (2006) ideas, we examined the influences of parent SA, depression, and externalizing psychopathology on these behaviors in youth assessed during childhood and approximately five years later, during adolescence. We hypothesized that parent depression and externalizing psychopathology would show direct associations with these behaviors in youth which would, in turn, be directly associated with SA in youth. We also hypothesized that a history of parent SA would show a direct association with SA in offspring. As discussed above, parent(s) with AUD and their offspring are an important population to test these hypotheses due to elevated rates of psychopathology and suicidal behavior. Along with an analysis of parental influences generally, we analyzed mother-child and father-child
