OBJECTIVE: While a substantial body of research has demonstrated associations between family factors and adolescent suicide risk, little is known about whether maternal mentalizing and emotion regulation play a role in adolescent suicide risk. The objective of this study was to test whether maternal mentalizing and maternal emotion regulation strategies are related to adolescent suicide risk through adolescents' mentalizing ability and emotion regulation strategies. METHOD: A total of 130 adolescents and young adults (63.6 % female
aged 15-23 years) and their mothers completed a series of self-report questionnaires assessing their suicide risk, anxiety and depression, mentalizing difficulties and cognitive emotion regulation strategies. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling revealed significant indirect effects between adolescent mentalizing and adolescent suicide risk through adolescent adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation. The results also showed a moderating effect of adolescent anxiety and depression on the relationships between adaptive emotion regulation strategies and suicide risk in adolescents and young adults. Importantly, maternal maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (i.e., self-blame and catastrophizing) have significant effects on suicidal risk through mentalizing difficulties and adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies in adolescents and young adults. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide preliminary support for the specific roles of maternal emotion regulation strategies by demonstrating that a higher use of maternal maladaptive emotion regulation strategies are associated with less adolescent mentalizing, which in turn contributes to a higher use of maladaptive strategies and a lower use of adaptive strategies among adolescents, thus increasing the risk of suicide in adolescence and young adulthood.