Data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents studied at two points in time are used to examine gender-specific influence of parent-youth closeness on youth's suicidal ideation and its variations by stages of adolescence and race or ethnicity. Logistic regression analyses yielded interesting findings: (a) Closeness with fathers exerts an important influence on girls, and this effect is observed regardless of stages of adolescence and race/ethnicity; (b) the influence of fathers on boys declines toward late adolescence, and fathers’ effect is more pronounced among Native and Asian American boys; (c) closeness with mothers is important for boys of early and late teens but not among midteens; and (d) relationship with mothers exerts little influence on girls with the exception that among Asian American girls, closeness with mothers does exercise a weak effect (i.e., more so than White girls). These results are discussed in light of their theoretical and policy implications.
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