Researchers from Columbia University Medical Centre in New York also found this to be the case even when children don't share their parent's beliefs.
The data analysed spanned 30 years and three generations of families and examined the association between suicidal behaviours, including thoughts and attempts, for offspring aged six to 18 years from 112 nuclear families.
In the introduction to the study which was published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry, the authors explained: "Previous research has examined a number of risk factors of child and adolescent suicide, but one that has received little attention is religious/spiritual belief.
"This is surprising given that religious beliefs and practices have been associated with lower rates of suicide."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is one of the top ten leading causes of death in the US.
Suicide is the leading cause of death however for teenage girls.
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