Daily emotion contagion in parent–adolescent dyads: Variations by adolescent suicidal ideation

Emotion contagion within parent-adolescent dyads represents a fundamental mechanism through which daily family interactions shape adolescent emotional well-being. Yet little is known about how adolescent suicidal ideation reorganizes daily patterns of emotional transmission between parents and adolescents. The present study examined daily parent-adolescent emotion contagion and the role of adolescent suicidal ideation using a 14-day daily diary design and a multi-group actor-partner interdependence modeling framework. Participants were 156 adolescent-parent dyads (adolescents: M = 14.66 years, SD = 1.47; 58% female) recruited from communities in Texas. Results showed that limited emotion contagion between parents and adolescents was observed in families of adolescents without suicidal ideation. In families with adolescent suicidal ideation, two novel prospective partner effects emerged: parent positive emotions predicted lower adolescent positive emotions the following day, and adolescent positive emotions predicted lower parent positive emotions the following day. These findings indicate that adolescent suicidal ideation may characterize daily parent-adolescent emotion contagion processes, such that the presence of suicidal ideation is associated with distinct patterns of dyadic emotional transmission compared to families without suicidal ideation.