Results of the current study reaffirm that depressive symptoms and externalizing behaviors (i.e., conduct disorder symptoms) confer risk for SA among adolescent children of parents with AUD, a vulnerable population. Moreover, the results suggest that when these risk factors present during childhood they are predictive of future difficulties during adolescence, when risk for SA peaks. Results also indicate that some forms of externalizing parental psychopathology (i.e., antisocial personality disorder in fathers, alcohol use disorders in mothers) predict offspring conduct disorder symptoms which, in turn, promote risk for SA, consistent with the idea that parental risk for suicidal behavior is transmitted to children through externalizing behaviors, among other factors. The data also suggest that child risk factors (i.e., depressive symptoms, conduct disorder symptoms, prior suicidality) more so than parental risk factors reliably foretell SA during adolescence, suggesting that risk identification and intervention efforts may be best served by focusing on youth from high-risk families who themselves manifest symptoms suggestive of risk. Depressive symptoms as well as suicidality during childhood predict SA five years later, suggesting their importance in risk recognition and
