Consistent with the study hypothesis, results reveal that EI moderates the relation between retrospectively reported child sexual abuse (CSA) and past year suicidal ideation and attempts. Specifically, CSA was strongly predictive of these outcomes among those with low EI, weakly predictive among those with medium EI, and completely unrelated among those with high EI. Further analyses revealed that the protective effect of EI was driven primarily by differences in strategic EI (ability to understand and manage emotions) but not experiential EI (ability to perceive emotions and integrate emotions into thoughts). The specificity of the observed protective effect of strategic EI, but not experiential EI, for suicidal behaviors is an important strength of this study. The fact that effects were replicated across both suicidal ideation and attempts increases confidence in reliability of these findings. Data were collected from 54 adolescents, 31 with a recent (past year) history of suicidal ideation and/or attempts, and 23 with not recent history. Constructs were assessed using self-report, structured interviews, and performance-based study. 2 tables, 1 figure, and 69 references