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Pirkis J, Bantjes J, Gould M, Niederkrotenthaler T, Robinson J, Sinyor M, Ueda M, Hawton K. Public health measures related to the transmissibility of suicide. Lancet Public Health 2024; 9:e807-e815. [PMID: 39265604 DOI: 10.1016/s2468-2667(24)00153-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Revised: 05/16/2024] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 09/14/2024]
Abstract
Transmission is an important concept in suicide prevention. It can occur when exposure to another person's death by suicide (or to suicide-related information more generally) draws attention to suicide or highlights specific suicide methods. In this paper, the fourth in a Series on a public health approach to suicide prevention, we contend that the transmissibility of suicide must be considered when determining optimal ways to address it. We draw on five examples of how transmission might occur and be prevented. The first two examples relate to transmission initiated by representations of suicide in traditional and new media. The third concerns transmission that leads to suicide clusters, and the fourth considers a specific setting in which transmission occurs, namely secondary schools. Finally, we discuss how suicide risk might be countered by the transmission of suicide prevention messages in media campaigns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jane Pirkis
- Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
| | - Jason Bantjes
- Mental health, Alcohol, Substance use and Tobacco (MAST) Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Madelyn Gould
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
- Public Mental Health Research Unit, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jo Robinson
- Orygen, Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Mark Sinyor
- Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Michiko Ueda
- Department of Public Administration and International Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA; Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse, NY, USA
| | - Keith Hawton
- Centre for Suicide Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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2
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Hawton K, Knipe D, Pirkis J. Restriction of access to means used for suicide. Lancet Public Health 2024; 9:e796-e801. [PMID: 39265608 DOI: 10.1016/s2468-2667(24)00157-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Revised: 07/02/2024] [Accepted: 07/03/2024] [Indexed: 09/14/2024]
Abstract
One of the most effective public health measures to prevent suicide is the restriction of access to means used in suicidal acts. This approach can be especially effective if a method is common and readily accessible. Suicide methods vary widely, and there have been several examples where means restriction has been applied, often with considerable success. Factors contributing to availability of suicide methods can include access to physical means as well as cognitive awareness of methods. In this paper, which is the second in a Series on a public health approach to suicide prevention, we focus primarily on examples of restricting access to physical means of suicide, such as pesticides, firearms, and medication. We also discuss restricting the cognitive availability of means through attention to media and other representations of suicide methods. There are challenges associated with restricting access to means, including resistance to measures required to change the availability of some methods (which might, in part, be commercially determined) and method substitution, whereby one suicide method is replaced by another. Nevertheless, means restriction must be an integral part of all national and local suicide prevention strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keith Hawton
- Centre for Suicide Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Duleeka Knipe
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK; South Asian Clinical Toxicology Research Collaboration, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
| | - Jane Pirkis
- Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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3
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Kirchner S, Till B, Laido Z, Niederkrotenthaler T. Suicide-Related Media Reporting With a Focus on Sexual and Gender Minority Identities. CRISIS 2024; 45:339-347. [PMID: 38597230 DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
Background: Little is known about the quality of media reports on suicide and prevention targeting persons with sexual or gender minority identities (LGBTQ+). Aims: To assess the quality of suicide-related media reporting of LGBTQ+ people and its consistency with media guidelines. Method: We conducted a content analysis of 5,652 media items in two US states (Washington and Oregon) published within 1 year. Results: There were only few differences in the reporting about suicide in LGBTQ+ as compared to non-LGBTQ+ reports. LGBTQ+ media items more often portrayed suicide as monocausal [Oregon: OR = 1.75, 95% CI (1.03-2.98), p = .038; Washington: OR = 3.00, 95% CI (1.81-4.97), p < .001] and linked them to adverse life experiences [OR = 2.16, 95% CI (1.38-3.38), p < .001; OR = 2.09, 95% CI (1.30-3.38), p = .002] than non-LGBTQ+ items. They also more often featured mental health experts [OR = 1.79, 95% CI (1.04-3.10), p = .034; OR = 2.12, 95% CI (1.23-3.67), p = .006] and contacts to support services [OR = 2.22, 95% CI (1.41-3.48), p < .001; OR = 2.70, 95% CI (1.64-4.45), p < .001]. Limitations: Aspects possibly influencing the portrayal of LGBTQ+ suicide and prevention beyond the characteristics listed were not investigated. Conclusion: Suicide-related media reporting related to LGBTQ+ issues features potentially beneficial aspects but tends to overlook multifactorial causes of suicide. Diverse factors contributing to LGBTQ+ suicide and prevention warrant greater attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Kirchner
- Public Mental Health Research Unit, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Benedikt Till
- Public Mental Health Research Unit, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Zrinka Laido
- Public Mental Health Research Unit, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
- Public Mental Health Research Unit, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
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4
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Wagner A, Reifegerste D. Desirable and Adverse Effects of Communicative Suicide Prevention Interventions Among Men. CRISIS 2024; 45:365-375. [PMID: 39136159 DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/20/2024]
Abstract
Background: Despite men's high suicide risk, gender perspectives in suicide prevention research are scarce. Aims: The goal of this systematic review was to describe the desirable and adverse effects of distribution channels and message strategies of communicative suicide prevention interventions among men. Methods: Databases PubMed and Web of Science were searched for quantitative randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and nonrandomized studies examining the effectiveness of male-specific or general communicative interventions among men. Narrative synthesis was used to summarize findings. Results: Fifty-five studies published in peer-reviewed articles until October 15, 2021, were included. Findings demonstrate that interpersonal, mass media, and digital media interventions impact suicide-related outcomes preventively. Mass media interventions are not suitable to impact men's emotions in a prevention-desirable way. Message strategies interactivity, emotional appeals, and clear calls to action demonstrated high effectiveness, while expert exemplars, visualizations, and personalization were rather ineffective. Limitations: However, the review was not able to prove causality, could not distinguish between multichannel interventions and single-channel interventions, or between specific combinations of channels and message strategies. Discussion: The systematic review provides some guidance on which channels and message strategies to apply in communicative suicide prevention for men.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Wagner
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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5
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Shaman J, Kandula S, Pei S, Galanti M, Olfson M, Gould M, Keyes K. Quantifying suicide contagion at population scale. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadq4074. [PMID: 39083618 PMCID: PMC11290520 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adq4074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2024] [Accepted: 06/27/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024]
Abstract
The spread of suicidal behavior among individuals is often described as a contagion; however, rigorous modeling of suicide as a dynamic, contagious process is minimal. Here, we develop and validate a model-inference system depicting suicide ideation and death and use it to quantify the contagion processes in the US associated with two prominent celebrity suicide events: Robin Williams during 2014 and Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, which occurred 3 days apart during 2018. We show that both events produced large transient increases of suicide contagion contact rates, i.e., the spread of suicidal thought and behavior, and a period of elevated suicidal ideation in the general population. Our modeling approach provides a framework for quantifying suicidal contagion and better understanding, preventing, and containing its spread.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey Shaman
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
- Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, New York, NY 10025, USA
| | - Sasikiran Kandula
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Sen Pei
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Marta Galanti
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Mark Olfson
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Madelyn Gould
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Katherine Keyes
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
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6
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Ju Y, Scherr S, Prieler M. How Do Recommended Elements in Suicide News Coverage Work? An Investigation of the Effect of Responsible Reporting and Readers' Reflectiveness on Suicide Prevention. HEALTH COMMUNICATION 2024; 39:1899-1905. [PMID: 37599263 DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2023.2247154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
To examine the effect of positive elements in suicide reporting guidelines, we assessed how responsible reporting on suicide (RRS) affect cognitive and intentional responses. We also investigated the moderating role of audience reflectiveness in news processing. Here, 308 individuals participated in a single-factor between-subject experiment conducted in South Korea. We manipulated the number of positive RRS features in news articles by adding suicide statistics, contact information for helplines, and efficacy-enforcing information. Overall, news articles containing multiple RRS elements had a stronger impact on behavioral intentions to help others in a suicidal crisis than a basic news article without RRS elements. Interestingly, reflectiveness had a stronger influence on individuals who read a suicide news report having the most RRS elements relative to those who read suicide news without any RRS elements, signifying an indirect impact of suicide news on intentions to help. The implications of this RRS effect identified are discussed in terms of suicide prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sebastian Scherr
- Center for Interdisciplinary Health Research, University of Augsburg
- Department of Media, Knowledge, and Communication, University of Augsburg
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7
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Mahesar RA, Shahid S, Asif S, Khoso AK, Kar SK, Shabbir T. Unveiling shadows: analyzing suicide reporting in Muslim-majority countries vis-à-vis WHO's media guidelines. CNS Spectr 2024; 29:221-223. [PMID: 37861078 DOI: 10.1017/s1092852923006351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
Numerous studies have been conducted globally to assess the compliance level of newspapers with the World Health Organization's media guidelines for responsible suicide reporting. To identify and review such studies conducted in Muslim-majority countries between 2014 and 2022, we searched PubMed and Google Scholar databases. We identified 12 eligible studies from Pakistan (n = 4), Bangladesh (n = 2), Malaysia (n = 1), Indonesia (n = 1), Iraq (n = 1), Iran (n = 1), Nigeria (n = 1), and Egypt (n = 1). These studies indicated an overall lack of adherence to the guidelines. However, the level of nonadherence was particularly high in Pakistan. Effective suicide prevention programs may help in promoting responsible reporting of suicide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rameez A Mahesar
- Department of Media & Communication Studies, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan
| | - Sana Shahid
- Department of Media & Communication Studies, Sindh Madressatul Islam University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Saba Asif
- Department of Psychology, Government College Women University, Sialkot, Pakistan
| | - Abdul K Khoso
- Department of English, Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University, Lyari, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Sujita K Kar
- Department of Psychiatry, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India
| | - Taha Shabbir
- Department of Media & Communication Studies, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Shaheed Benazirabad, Pakistan
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Kelsall NC, Gimbrone C, Olfson M, Gould MS, Shaman J, Keyes K. Association Between Prosuicide Website Searches Through Google and Suicide Death in the United States From 2010 to 2021: Lagged Time-Series Analysis. J Med Internet Res 2024; 26:e53404. [PMID: 39059004 PMCID: PMC11316151 DOI: 10.2196/53404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The rate of suicide death has been increasing, making understanding risk factors of growing importance. While exposure to explicit suicide-related media, such as description of means in news reports or sensationalized fictional portrayal, is known to increase population suicide rates, it is not known whether prosuicide website forums, which often promote or facilitate information about fatal suicide means, are related to change in suicide deaths overall or by specific means. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to estimate the association of the frequency of Google searches of known prosuicide web forums and content with death by suicide over time in the United States, by age, sex, and means of death. METHODS National monthly Google search data for names of common prosuicide websites between January 2010 and December 2021 were extracted from Google Health Trends API (application programming interface). Suicide deaths were identified using the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), and 3 primary means of death were identified (poisoning, suffocation, and firearm). Distributed lag nonlinear models (DLNMs) were then used to estimate the lagged association between the number of Google searches on suicide mortality, stratified by age, sex, and means, and adjusted for month. Sensitivity analyses, including using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) modeling approaches, were also conducted. RESULTS Months in the United States in which search rates for prosuicide websites increased had more documented deaths by intentional poisoning and suffocation among both adolescents and adults. For example, the risk of poisoning suicide among youth and young adults (age 10-24 years) was 1.79 (95% CI 1.06-3.03) times higher in months with 22 searches per 10 million as compared to 0 searches. The risk of poisoning suicide among adults aged 25-64 was 1.10 (95% CI 1.03-1.16) times higher 1 month after searches reached 9 per 10 million compared with 0 searches. We also observed that increased search rates were associated with fewer youth suicide deaths by firearms with a 3-month time lag for adolescents. These models were robust to sensitivity tests. CONCLUSIONS Although more analysis is needed, the findings are suggestive of an association between increased prosuicide website access and increased suicide deaths, specifically deaths by poisoning and suffocation. These findings emphasize the need to further investigate sites containing potentially dangerous information and their associations with deaths by suicide, as they may affect vulnerable individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nora Clancy Kelsall
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Catherine Gimbrone
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Mark Olfson
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Madelyn S Gould
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Jeffrey Shaman
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
- Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Katherine Keyes
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
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9
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Chu M, Lee CY, Huang S, Zhang X, Wang L, Chen T, Chiang YC. Improving responsible Media Reporting on Student Suicide to Reduce Negative Public Opinion: Text Mining Based on Sina Weibo in China. OMEGA-JOURNAL OF DEATH AND DYING 2024:302228241240945. [PMID: 39049160 DOI: 10.1177/00302228241240945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/27/2024]
Abstract
The aims of this study were to explore whether student suicide reporting is consistent with media recommendations for suicide reporting; analyze public opinion and sentiments toward student suicide reports. A keyword search was performed on the WeiboReach platform. This study included 113 student suicide report posts and 176,262 readers' comments on suicide news reports. Hierarchical generalized linear modeling was used to analyze the relationships between adherence to reporting recommendations and negative emotions in readers' comments. None of the media reporting of student suicide was consistent with all of the media recommendations for suicide reporting. Netizens were less likely to post negative comments when the reports describe the suicide method used (OR 1.169, 95% CI 1.022∼1.337), and not specifying the cause of suicide was a protective factor for public negative emotion (OR 0.799, 95% CI 0.707, 0.905). The findings suggest improving responsible media reporting on student suicide to reduce negative public emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meijie Chu
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, National Innovation Platform for Industry-Education Integration in Vaccine Research, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Chun-Yang Lee
- School of International Business, China Merchants, Economic and Technological Development Zone, Xiamen University Tan Kah Kee College, Zhangzhou, China
| | - Shiling Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, National Innovation Platform for Industry-Education Integration in Vaccine Research, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Xiaoke Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, National Innovation Platform for Industry-Education Integration in Vaccine Research, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- MSD R&D (China) Co., Ltd., China
| | - Lijie Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, National Innovation Platform for Industry-Education Integration in Vaccine Research, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Tianmu Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, National Innovation Platform for Industry-Education Integration in Vaccine Research, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Yi-Chen Chiang
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, National Innovation Platform for Industry-Education Integration in Vaccine Research, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
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10
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Foriest JC, Mittal S, Kim E, Carmichael A, Lennon N, Sumner SA, De Choudhury M. News Media Framing of Suicide Circumstances and Gender: Mixed Methods Analysis. JMIR Ment Health 2024; 11:e49879. [PMID: 38959061 PMCID: PMC11255531 DOI: 10.2196/49879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide. Journalistic reporting guidelines were created to curb the impact of unsafe reporting; however, how suicide is framed in news reports may differ by important characteristics such as the circumstances and the decedent's gender. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the degree to which news media reports of suicides are framed using stigmatized or glorified language and differences in such framing by gender and circumstance of suicide. METHODS We analyzed 200 news articles regarding suicides and applied the validated Stigma of Suicide Scale to identify stigmatized and glorified language. We assessed linguistic similarity with 2 widely used metrics, cosine similarity and mutual information scores, using a machine learning-based large language model. RESULTS News reports of male suicides were framed more similarly to stigmatizing (P<.001) and glorifying (P=.005) language than reports of female suicides. Considering the circumstances of suicide, mutual information scores indicated that differences in the use of stigmatizing or glorifying language by gender were most pronounced for articles attributing legal (0.155), relationship (0.268), or mental health problems (0.251) as the cause. CONCLUSIONS Linguistic differences, by gender, in stigmatizing or glorifying language when reporting suicide may exacerbate suicide disparities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasmine C Foriest
- School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
- National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Shravika Mittal
- School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Eugenia Kim
- School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Andrea Carmichael
- National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Natalie Lennon
- National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Accenture, Arlington, VA, United States
| | - Steven A Sumner
- National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Munmun De Choudhury
- School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
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11
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Niederkrotenthaler T, Tran US, Till B. Associations of Suicide Referents With Different Moral Connotation With Actual Suicides. CRISIS 2024; 45:280-286. [PMID: 38441131 DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/15/2024]
Abstract
Background: Different words used for suicide (so-called suicide referents) have different moral connotations, and neutral referents are recommended in media reporting guidelines. Aims: To assess how different referents in media reports are related to actual suicides. Method: Austrian news articles for each month between 2000 and 2021 (n = 276 months) were obtained from the Austrian Press Agency. Time series were modeled for media items referring to suicide as a crime [Selbstmord], an act of freedom [Freitod], or neutral connotation [Suizid]. Temporal associations with suicides in the month before, during, and after the reporting were examined. Results: Terminology referring to suicide as an act of free will [Freitod] was weakly associated with increases in total, male, and female suicides and with suicides in up to 64-year-olds in the same month. No other statistically significant associations were found. Limitations: No detailed content analysis of media reports was done. Conclusion: During times of prevalent use of referents suggesting suicide to be an act of freedom, there are small-sized increases in suicides. The simultaneous occurrence of this referent and suicides might reflect effects of a societal framing present in both the media and the community rather than a sheer media effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
- Public Mental Health Research Unit, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrich S Tran
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Benedikt Till
- Public Mental Health Research Unit, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
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12
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Dandona R, Khan M. Engagement With Death Registration and Cause-of-Death Reporting to Strengthen Suicide Statistics. CRISIS 2024; 45:249-253. [PMID: 39138983 DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/15/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Rakhi Dandona
- Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India
- Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Murad Khan
- Department of Psychiatry and Brain and Mind Institute, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
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13
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McInerney SA, Robertson AC, Schneeback A, Oakes R, Lac A. Predicting Sensationalism in Suicide Story Headlines. CRISIS 2024; 45:271-279. [PMID: 38317585 DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Objective: Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States, and media publicity plays a role in suicide rates. The United States offers guidelines for the reporting of suicide. This study evaluated guideline adherence in newspaper and newswire publications covering celebrity suicide deaths. The research also assessed whether the sensationalism of article headlines could be predicted by variables reflecting nonadherent reporting. Method: Publications from 2013 to 2018 reporting on nine celebrity suicides were evaluated via content analysis. Adherence was assessed in a two-step hierarchical linear regression to determine which variables predicted sensationalism in headlines. Results: Overall adherence to reporting guidelines was moderate. Newspaper disclosure of suicide method only, suicide method and location, and note contents significantly predicted headline sensationalism in the first regression model, R2 = 22%. The sensationalism in the body of the article and other variables additionally predicted headline sensationalism in the second regression model, R2 = 55%. Limitations: This study is limited to celebrity suicide reporting and may not reflect media reporting trends of noncelebrity suicide deaths. Conclusion: Findings reveal that sensationalism in the body of the article and other variables uniquely contributed to sensationalism in newspaper headlines. This suggests that the public could be at risk for reading harmful content not consistent with reporting recommendations about suicide because of the initial attraction to sensational headlines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A McInerney
- Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, CO, USA
| | - Anna C Robertson
- Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, CO, USA
| | - Alekx Schneeback
- Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, CO, USA
| | - Rhiannon Oakes
- Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, CO, USA
| | - Andrew Lac
- Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, CO, USA
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Chow S, Men VY, Zaheer R, Schaffer A, Triggs C, Spittal MJ, Elliott M, Schaffer D, Vije M, Jayakumar N, Sinyor M. Suicide on the Toronto Transit Commission subway system in Canada (1998-2021): a time-series analysis. LANCET REGIONAL HEALTH. AMERICAS 2024; 34:100754. [PMID: 38764981 PMCID: PMC11101865 DOI: 10.1016/j.lana.2024.100754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 04/10/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/21/2024]
Abstract
Background The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) operates the public transit system in Toronto, Canada. From 1954 to 1980, there were 430 suicide deaths/attempts on the TTC subway system. In 2011, TTC implemented Crisis Link, a suicide helpline to connect subway passengers with counsellors. Upstream factors such as media reporting about suicide incidents may also influence suicidal behaviour. Our objectives were to investigate how Crisis Link and media reports about TTC suicide incidents influenced suicide rates. Methods Suicide data were obtained from the TTC and Coroner, with Crisis Link data provided by Distress Centres of Greater Toronto (1998-2021). Media articles were identified through a database search of Toronto media publications. Interrupted time-series analysis investigated the association between Crisis Link calls, media articles, and quarterly suicide rates on the subway system. Findings There were 302 suicides on TTC's subway system from 1998 to 2021. The introduction of Crisis Link was associated with a large but non-significant decrease in TTC-related suicide rate in the same quarter (IRR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.36-1.12). Each subsequent post-Crisis-Link quarter experienced an average 2% increase in suicide rate (IRR = 1.02, 95% CI = 1.004-1.04). Furthermore, for each TTC-related media article in the previous quarter, the suicide rate on the TTC increased by 2% (IRR = 1.02, 95% CI = 1.004-1.04). Interpretation The Crisis Link helpline was associated with a large but non-significant short-term decrease in suicide rates. However, this outcome was not sustained; this may, in part, be attributable to media reporting which was associated with increased suicides. This should inform suicide prevention policies in Canada and worldwide. Funding No funding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Selina Chow
- Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Vera Yu Men
- Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Rabia Zaheer
- Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Ayal Schaffer
- Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Christine Triggs
- Safety & Environment Department, Toronto Transit Commission, Toronto, Canada
| | - Matthew J. Spittal
- Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | | | - Dalia Schaffer
- Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Mathavan Vije
- Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Navitha Jayakumar
- Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Mark Sinyor
- Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
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15
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Okada M, Matsumoto R, Motomura E. Suicide mortality rates in Japan before and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic era. PCN REPORTS : PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES 2024; 3:e188. [PMID: 38868081 PMCID: PMC11114309 DOI: 10.1002/pcn5.188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024]
Abstract
Statistical analyses from Japan reported increasing suicides in 2020, first in the world, proving the severity of the public health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, so far, international suicides have not been shown to be objectively increasing at population level. Followed studies reported the existence of a substantial heterogeneity of suicides among subgroups and time-lag impacts. Against public health crisis in Japan, policymakers, psychiatrists and public health personnel should prioritize improving suicide prevention programs following evidence-based policymaking. Understanding how/what factors relate to the COVID-19 pandemic and what other factors have shaped the increasing suicide numbers since 2020 through objectively well-controlled/fine-grained analyses of high-quality longitudinal/cross-sectional data at the individual, regional, and national levels is important for identifying the reasons for the recent trend. For this purpose, this study examined suicide statistics, statistical analysis methods, and their interpretations. Recent analyses suggest an increased suicide risk among females <50 years and males <30 years in 2020-2022. Notably, time-series analyses revealed that adolescent suicides began increasing before the pandemic, while working-age female suicides sharply increased synchronously with the pandemic outbreak. Causality analyses suggest that social issues facing Japan and recent global psychosocial and socioeconomic transformations are risk factors for suicide in high-risk groups. Finally, this report demonstrates the importance of providing appropriate support based on an objective understanding of individuals who are at risk for suicide, without being bound by traditional established knowledges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Motohiro Okada
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Division of Neuroscience, Graduate School of MedicineMie UniversityTsuJapan
| | - Ryusuke Matsumoto
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Division of Neuroscience, Graduate School of MedicineMie UniversityTsuJapan
| | - Eishi Motomura
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Division of Neuroscience, Graduate School of MedicineMie UniversityTsuJapan
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16
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Mestas M. The 'Werther Effect' of Goethe's Werther: Anecdotal Evidence in Historical News Reports. HEALTH COMMUNICATION 2024; 39:1279-1284. [PMID: 37170580 DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2023.2211363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Anecdotal evidence suggests a spike in suicides occurred after the publication of Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther in 1774. Imitation suicides elicited by media portrayals of suicide have since been termed the "Werther effect." However, evidence for a suicide "epidemic" after the publication of Goethe's Werther is limited to unsystematically documented cases. This study provides an overview of all previously noted copycat suicides, as well as a systematic search for anecdotal evidence of suicides imitating Goethe's Werther in the press. Newspaper databases of the DACH countries were searched for reports of suicides that the press had connected to Goethe's Werther since 1774. In addition to confirming most suicides that have previously been reported in the literature, eight additional suicides attributed to Goethe's Werther not yet addressed in previous literature were identified in the newspapers. Goethe's Werther was presumably connected to several copycat suicides. However, newspapers reported on the Werther-epidemic itself and the moral implications of glamorizing suicide much more than on specific imitative suicides. Whether the reports identified by this study substantiate a "Werther epidemic" remains up to interpretation. The lack of research on possible further Werther effects elicited by fiction books is discussed.
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17
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Spittal MJ, Gunnell D, Sinyor M, Clapperton A, Roberts L, Pirkis J, Niederkrotenthaler T. Evaluating Population-Level Interventions and Exposures for Suicide Prevention. CRISIS 2024. [PMID: 38770800 DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Evaluations of interventions targeting the population level are an essential component of the policy development cycle. Pre-post designs are widespread in suicide prevention research but have several significant limitations. To inform future evaluations, our aim is to explore the three most frequently used approaches for assessing the association between population-level interventions or exposures and suicide - the pre-post design, the difference-in-difference design, and Poisson regression approaches. The pre-post design and the difference-in-difference design will only produce unbiased estimates of an association if there are no underlying time trends in the data and there is no additional confounding from other sources. Poisson regression approaches with covariates for time can control for underlying time trends as well as the effects of other confounding factors. Our recommendation is that the default position should be to model the effects of population-level interventions or exposures using regression methods that account for time effects. The other designs should be seen as fall-back positions when insufficient data are available to use methods that control for time effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Spittal
- Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - David Gunnell
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, University of Bristol, UK
| | - Mark Sinyor
- Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Canada
| | - Angela Clapperton
- Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Leo Roberts
- Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Jane Pirkis
- Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
- Unit Suicide Research and Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
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18
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Metzler H, Baginski H, Garcia D, Niederkrotenthaler T. A machine learning approach to detect potentially harmful and protective suicide-related content in broadcast media. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0300917. [PMID: 38743759 PMCID: PMC11093288 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Suicide-related media content has preventive or harmful effects depending on the specific content. Proactive media screening for suicide prevention is hampered by the scarcity of machine learning approaches to detect specific characteristics in news reports. This study applied machine learning to label large quantities of broadcast (TV and radio) media data according to media recommendations reporting suicide. We manually labeled 2519 English transcripts from 44 broadcast sources in Oregon and Washington, USA, published between April 2019 and March 2020. We conducted a content analysis of media reports regarding content characteristics. We trained a benchmark of machine learning models including a majority classifier, approaches based on word frequency (TF-IDF with a linear SVM) and a deep learning model (BERT). We applied these models to a selection of more simple (e.g., focus on a suicide death), and subsequently to putatively more complex tasks (e.g., determining the main focus of a text from 14 categories). Tf-idf with SVM and BERT were clearly better than the naive majority classifier for all characteristics. In a test dataset not used during model training, F1-scores (i.e., the harmonic mean of precision and recall) ranged from 0.90 for celebrity suicide down to 0.58 for the identification of the main focus of the media item. Model performance depended strongly on the number of training samples available, and much less on assumed difficulty of the classification task. This study demonstrates that machine learning models can achieve very satisfactory results for classifying suicide-related broadcast media content, including multi-class characteristics, as long as enough training samples are available. The developed models enable future large-scale screening and investigations of broadcast media.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah Metzler
- Section for Science of Complex Systems, Center for Medical Data Science, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Unit Public Mental Health Research, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Complexity Science Hub, Vienna, Austria
- Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education, Austria
| | - Hubert Baginski
- Complexity Science Hub, Vienna, Austria
- Institute of Information Systems Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
| | - David Garcia
- Section for Science of Complex Systems, Center for Medical Data Science, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Complexity Science Hub, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Institute of Interactive Systems and Data Science, Department of Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
| | - Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
- Unit Public Mental Health Research, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
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19
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Beard JH, Trombley S, Walker T, Roberts L, Partain L, MacMillan J, Midberry J. Public health framing of firearm violence on local television news in Philadelphia, PA, USA: a quantitative content analysis. BMC Public Health 2024; 24:1221. [PMID: 38698393 PMCID: PMC11067069 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-18718-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Firearm violence is an intensifying public health problem in the United States. News reports shape the way the public and policy makers understand and respond to health threats, including firearm violence. To better understand how firearm violence is communicated to the public, we aimed to determine the extent to which firearm violence is framed as a public health problem on television news and to measure harmful news content as identified by firearm-injured people. METHODS This is a quantitative content analysis of Philadelphia local television news stories about firearm violence using a database of 7,497 clips. We compiled a stratified sample of clips aired on two randomly selected days/month from January-June 2021 from the database (n = 192 clips). We created a codebook to measure public health frame elements and to assign a harmful content score for each story and then coded the clips. Characteristics of stories containing episodic frames that focus on single shooting events were compared to clips with thematic frames that include broader social context for violence. RESULTS Most clips employed episodic frames (79.2%), presented law enforcement officials as primary narrators (50.5%), and included police imagery (79.2%). A total of 433 firearm-injured people were mentioned, with a mean of 2.8 individuals shot included in each story. Most of the firearm-injured people featured in the clips (67.4%) had no personal information presented apart from age and/or gender. The majority of clips (84.4%) contained at least one harmful content element. The mean harmful content score/clip was 2.6. Public health frame elements, including epidemiologic context, root causes, public health narrators and visuals, and solutions were missing from most clips. Thematic stories contained significantly more public health frame elements and less harmful content compared to episodic stories. CONCLUSIONS Local television news produces limited public health coverage of firearm violence, and harmful content is common. This reporting likely compounds trauma experienced by firearm-injured people and could impede support for effective public health responses to firearm violence. Journalists should work to minimize harmful news content and adopt a public health approach to reporting on firearm violence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica H Beard
- Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, 3401 N. Broad St, 4th Floor, Zone C, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA.
| | - Shannon Trombley
- Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Tia Walker
- Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Leah Roberts
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Laura Partain
- School of Communication, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Jim MacMillan
- Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jennifer Midberry
- Department of Journalism and Communication, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA
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20
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Yip PSF, Caine ED, Yeung CY, Law YW, Ho RTH. Suicide prevention in Hong Kong: pushing boundaries while building bridges. THE LANCET REGIONAL HEALTH. WESTERN PACIFIC 2024; 46:101061. [PMID: 38616984 PMCID: PMC11011221 DOI: 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2024.101061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
Hong Kong is a natural laboratory for studying suicides-small geographic footprint, bustling economic activity, rapidly changing socio-demographic transitions, and cultural crossroads. Its qualities also intensify the challenges posed when seeking to prevent them. In this viewpoint, we showed the research and practices of suicide prevention efforts made by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention (CSRP), which provide the theoretical underpinning of suicide prevention and empirical evidence. CSRP adopted a multi-level public health approach (universal, selective and indicated), and has collaboratively designed, implemented, and evaluated numerous programs that have demonstrated effectiveness in suicide prevention and mental well-being promotion. The center serves as a hub and a catalyst for creating, identifying, deploying, and evaluating suicide prevention initiatives, which have the potential to reduce regional suicides rates when taken to scale and sustained.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Siu Fai Yip
- Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Pofulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Eric D. Caine
- Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
- Canandaigua VA Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, Canandaigua, NY, USA
| | - Cheuk Yui Yeung
- Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Pofulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Yik Wa Law
- Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Pofulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Rainbow Tin Hung Ho
- Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Centre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
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21
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Gould MS, Lake AM, Chowdhury S, Noble E, Keyes KM, Gimbrone C, Niederkrotenthaler T. "Breaking the silence" suicide Prevention media campaign in Oregon: Evaluation of impact on help-seeking and suicide mortality. Suicide Life Threat Behav 2024; 54:361-369. [PMID: 38265194 PMCID: PMC11440998 DOI: 10.1111/sltb.13047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Revised: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 01/25/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Research has established that suicide-related media can impact suicide rates both positively and negatively, supporting efforts to engage the media in the service of suicide prevention. The goal of the current study is to evaluate the impact of a suicide prevention media campaign implemented April 7-14, 2019 in Oregon. METHODS Several indices of help-seeking behavior and suicide risk were employed: suicide-related Google Health API searches, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) (currently known as the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) call volume, and state suicide mortality data from April 7, 2016-May 6, 2019. Eight states with similar 2016-2018 average suicide rates were compared with Oregon. Bayesian structural time-series modeling in R was used to test intervention effects. RESULTS During the 30 days following the start of the campaign, there was a significant increase in Lifeline calls from Oregon area codes (2488 observed vs. 2283 expected calls, p = 0.03). There were no significant changes in suicide mortality or suicide-related Google searches in Oregon. CONCLUSIONS The campaign appeared to increase help-seeking behavior in the form of Lifeline calls, without any indication of an iatrogenic suicide contagion effect. However, the campaign's potential to reduce suicide mortality was unmet.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madelyn S. Gould
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health New York, New York, USA
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York, USA
| | - Alison M. Lake
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York, USA
| | - Saba Chowdhury
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York, USA
| | - Emily Noble
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York, USA
| | - Katherine M. Keyes
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health New York, New York, USA
| | - Catherine Gimbrone
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health New York, New York, USA
| | - Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
- Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
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22
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Till B, Arendt F, Rothauer P, Niederkrotenthaler T. The Role of the Narrative in Educative Suicide Awareness Materials: A Randomized Controlled Trial. HEALTH COMMUNICATION 2024; 39:403-416. [PMID: 36659822 DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2023.2167580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
There has been a debate about the suitability of different narratives in educative suicide prevention materials. Whereas some suicide prevention experts recommend raising awareness of suicide by highlighting its prevalence, others argue that this approach may normalize suicide and advocate focusing on help resources instead. Unfortunately, empirical evidence regarding this question is lacking. This randomized controlled trial aimed to test the impact of educative news articles that conveyed different narratives of suicide prevention. One article focused on the prevalence of suicide, one article highlighted professional help resources, and one article emphasized on how everyone can help to prevent suicide. We randomized n = 334 participants to read either one of these three articles or an article unrelated to suicide. Data on suicidal ideation, stigmatizing attitudes toward suicidal individuals, attitudes toward suicide prevention, and help-seeking intentions were collected with questionnaires, and implicit measures were used to assess participants' mental accessibility of concepts related to suicide and suicide prevention. Participants exposed to the article highlighting the high prevalence of suicide tended to show a higher accessibility of potentially detrimental cognitive concepts related to suicide. In contrast, the accessibility of the concept of "helping" and that "suicide is preventable" was higher in participants' memory when exposed to materials focusing on help. It seems that the impact of educative suicide awareness materials on readers' access to suicide- and suicide-prevention-related concepts in memory varied depending on the narrative featured in the article.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benedikt Till
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research
| | - Florian Arendt
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research
- Department of Communication, University of Vienna
| | - Pascal Rothauer
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna
| | - Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research
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23
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Fowler WC, Koenig HG. Should Physician-Assisted Suicide or Euthanasia be Legalized in the United States? A Medically Informed Perspective. JOURNAL OF RELIGION AND HEALTH 2024; 63:1058-1074. [PMID: 37938413 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-023-01939-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
There is a pressing debate in the United States concerning the implied physicians' obligation to do no harm and the status of legalizing physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Key issues that underpin the debate are important to consider. These include: (1) foundational medical beginnings; (2) euthanasia's historical and legal background context; and (3) the key arguments held by those for and against legalization of PAS. This paper reviews the major claims made by proponents for the legalization of PAS and the associated complexities and concerns that help underscore the importance of conscience freedoms. Relief of suffering, respect for patient autonomy, and public policy arguments are discussed in these contexts. We argue here that the emphasis by healthcare providers should be on high quality and compassionate care for those at the end of life's journey who are questioning whether to prematurely end their lives. If medicine loses its chief focus on the quality of caring-even when a cure is not possible-it betrays its objective and purpose. In this backdrop, legalization of PAS harms not only healthcare professionals, but also the medical profession's mission itself. Medicine's foundation is grounded in the concept of never intentionally to inflict harm. Inflicting death by any means is not professional or proper, and is not trustworthy medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- W Craig Fowler
- Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Lillington, NC, USA
- University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Harold G Koenig
- Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3400, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
- Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
- Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, People's Republic of China.
- Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
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24
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Asharani PV, Koh YS, Tan RHS, Tan YB, Gunasekaran S, Lim B, Tudor Car L, Subramaniam M. The impact of media reporting of suicides on subsequent suicides in Asia: A systematic review. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, SINGAPORE 2024; 53:152-169. [PMID: 38920243 DOI: 10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.2023237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/27/2024]
Abstract
Introduction This systematic review is aimed at (1) evaluating the association between media portrayals of suicides and subsequent copycat suicides or attempts among the general public in Asia, (2) understanding the factors associated with copycat suicides and (3) determining the positive impacts of the media reporting of suicides (e.g. increased help-seeking, coping). Method A systematic review and narrative synthesis of English and Chinese articles from 8 electronic databases (i.e. PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Ariti, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and OpenGrey) from January 2000 to May 2023 was conducted. Observational studies were included, and the data were analysed through narrative synthesis. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021281535). Results Among the 32 studies included (n=29 for evidence synthesis) in the review, there is good-quality evidence to show that copycat suicides and suicide attempts increase after media reports of a suicide, regardless of country, celebrity status, study design, type of media, mode of suicide or follow-up period. Females, younger age groups and those sharing similar characteristics as the deceased in publicised suicides (age, gender) were more susceptible to negative impact. Reporting of the mode of death of the deceased increased suicides by the same method among the public. Conclusion Media portrayals of suicide appear to have a negative impact on copycat suicides at the population level in Asia. Thus, in addition to tighter media control, healthcare systems, professional medical bodies and community outreach services should work collaboratively to promote early help-seeking in those with psychological distress.
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Affiliation(s)
- P V Asharani
- Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore
| | - Yen Sin Koh
- Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore
| | | | - Yoke Boon Tan
- Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore
| | | | - Benedict Lim
- Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore
| | - Lorainne Tudor Car
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
- Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Mythily Subramaniam
- Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
- Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore
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25
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Trinh E, Ivey-Stephenson AZ, Ballesteros MF, Idaikkadar N, Wang J, Stone DM. CDC Guidance for Community Assessment and Investigation of Suspected Suicide Clusters, United States, 2024. MMWR Suppl 2024; 73:8-16. [PMID: 38412115 PMCID: PMC10899086 DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.su7302a2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
This report is the second of three reports in the MMWR supplement updating CDC's guidance for investigating and responding to suicide clusters. The first report, Background and Rationale - CDC Guidance for Assessing, Investigating, and Responding to Suicide Clusters, United States, 2024, describes an overview of suicide clusters, methods used to develop the supplement guidance, and intended use of the supplement reports. The final report, CDC Guidance for Community Response to Suicide Clusters, United States, 2024, describes how local public health and community leaders can develop a response plan for suicide clusters. This report provides updated guidance for the approach to assessing and investigating suspected suicide clusters. Specifically, this approach will guide lead agencies in determining whether a confirmed suicide cluster exists, what concerns are in the community, and what the specific characteristics are of the suspected or confirmed suicide cluster. The guidance in this report is intended to support and assist lead agencies and their community prepare for, assess, and investigate suicide clusters. The steps provided in this report can be adapted to the local context, culture, capacity, circumstances, and needs for each suspected suicide cluster.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Trinh
- Division of Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Asha Z. Ivey-Stephenson
- Division of Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Michael F. Ballesteros
- Division of Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Nimi Idaikkadar
- Division of Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Jing Wang
- Division of Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Deborah M. Stone
- Division of Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia
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Hammig B, Bordelon A, Chandler C. Examining media reports of pediatric unintentional firearm injury deaths for prevention messaging concerning secured storage of firearms: U.S., 2021-2022. Inj Epidemiol 2024; 11:6. [PMID: 38351028 PMCID: PMC10863185 DOI: 10.1186/s40621-024-00485-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Media outlets that report on firearm injuries and deaths may provide an important role in emphasizing safe storage practices, particularly when unintentional firearm injuries and deaths occur among young children. There has been a scarcity of research on aspects of media reports on injuries, particularly concerning prevention messaging. The objective of the present study was to examine prevention messaging on the safe storage of firearms among media outlets when reporting on unintentional firearm injury deaths among children aged 0-11. METHODS The Gun Violence Archive collects information from media sources regarding firearm injuries and deaths. We analyzed data from 2021 to 2022 to analyze prevention messaging incorporated into the media reports. We then examined if media reporting of events that occurred in States with child access prevention (CAP) laws had a higher likelihood of including prevention messaging compared to those events occurring in States without CAP laws. RESULTS There were 223 deaths reported that were attributed to unintentional firearm discharge among children aged 0-11. Prevention messages were delivered in 61 of the 223 incidents. Specific messages which included the word "lock" when referring to firearm storage were included in 21.9% of all incidents. An analysis examining State CAP laws and the presence of any prevention message per event did not yield any discernable relationship. CONCLUSION Inclusion of prevention messaging stating that firearms should be stored locked and unloaded when reporting on unintentional firearm injury deaths among children is lacking. When specific prevention messaging was included, the source was often law enforcement. Public health officials may play an important role in educating the journalistic and law enforcement communities about the inclusion of safe storage messages when reporting on firearm deaths.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bart Hammig
- Public Health Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA.
| | - Abigail Bordelon
- Public Health Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
| | - Corinne Chandler
- Public Health Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
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Niederkrotenthaler T, Tran US, Till B, Pirkis J, Sinyor M. Letter to the Editor Re: Romer D. Seasonal suicide trends in adolescents in the United States: Did they explain the apparent effect of the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why? Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2023 Apr;53(2):207-218. Suicide Life Threat Behav 2024; 54:173-176. [PMID: 37909784 DOI: 10.1111/sltb.13014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrich S Tran
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Benedikt Till
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jane Pirkis
- Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Mark Sinyor
- Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
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Lueck JA, Callaghan T, Scherr S. Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Investigating Mental Health, COVID-19 Health Beliefs, and News Media Consumption in the United States Population in the Year 2020. OMEGA-JOURNAL OF DEATH AND DYING 2024; 88:1168-1180. [PMID: 34923875 DOI: 10.1177/00302228211062361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This study examines the role of general news media consumption during COVID-19 in aggravating mental health and suicide risk in the US population. In a sample of U.S. adults (N = 5,010), we investigated how mental health, COVID-19 health beliefs, and general news consumption influenced the odds of suicidal ideation using hierarchical logistic regression models. Both worsening mental health overall and specifically in regard to COVID-19 increased suicidal ideation. Perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 infection did not increase suicidal ideation, yet higher levels of COVID-19 self-efficacy reduced suicidal ideation. Overall news consumption did not affect suicidal ideation, but media-specific post-hoc analyses revealed that TV news watching decreased suicidal ideation as much as high levels of COVID-19 self-efficacy decreased suicidal ideation. Furthermore, online news consumption increased suicidal ideation as much as worsening mental health overall increased suicidal ideation. Further implications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer A Lueck
- Department of Communication, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Timothy Callaghan
- Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Sebastian Scherr
- Department of Communication, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
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White P, Corcoran P, Griffin E, Arensman E, Barrett P. The burden of attempted hanging and drowning presenting to hospitals in Ireland between 2007 and 2019: a national registry-based study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2024; 59:235-244. [PMID: 37525008 PMCID: PMC10838814 DOI: 10.1007/s00127-023-02525-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/02/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To measure the impact of hospital-treated self-harm by hanging and drowning in Ireland in 2007-2019 and identify risk factors for these methods of self-harm. METHOD Data on all self-harm presentations to Irish hospitals between 2007 and 2019 were obtained from the National Self-Harm Registry Ireland, a national self-harm surveillance system. Multinomial regression was used to explore factors associated with attempted hanging and drowning. RESULTS The age-standardised incidence rate of attempted hanging and drowning increased by 126% and 45%, respectively, between 2007 and 2019. The incidence of both methods was highest among young people aged 15-24 years. The odds of presenting to hospital for attempted hanging were highest in males (aOR 2.85, 95% CI 2.72-3.00), people experiencing homelessness (aOR 1.32, 95% CI 1.16-1.49) and individuals living in the capital, Dublin (aOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.17-1.29). The odds of presenting for attempted drowning were highest in males (aOR 1.68, 95% CI 1.58-1.78) and people experiencing homelessness (aOR 2.69, 95% CI 2.41-2.99). CONCLUSION The incidence of hospital-treated self-harm by hanging and drowning is increasing in Ireland and is highest among adolescents and young adults. Males and people experiencing homelessness may be at highest risk and warrant targeted preventive interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philippa White
- Department of Public Health (Cork & Kerry), HSE-South, St Finbarr's Hospital, Douglas Road, Cork, Ireland
| | - Paul Corcoran
- National Suicide Research Foundation, 4 Western Gateway Building, Western Road, Mardyke, Cork, Ireland
| | - Eve Griffin
- National Suicide Research Foundation, 4 Western Gateway Building, Western Road, Mardyke, Cork, Ireland
- School of Public Health, University College Cork, 4th Floor, Western Gateway Building, Western Road, Cork, Ireland
| | - Ella Arensman
- National Suicide Research Foundation, 4 Western Gateway Building, Western Road, Mardyke, Cork, Ireland
- School of Public Health, University College Cork, 4th Floor, Western Gateway Building, Western Road, Cork, Ireland
| | - Peter Barrett
- Department of Public Health (Cork & Kerry), HSE-South, St Finbarr's Hospital, Douglas Road, Cork, Ireland.
- School of Public Health, University College Cork, 4th Floor, Western Gateway Building, Western Road, Cork, Ireland.
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Davico C, Arletti L, Silverio G, Marcotulli D, Ricci FS, Amianto F, Vitiello B. Suicide in the press: an analysis of newspaper coverage of adolescent versus adult suicides in Italy. Eur Psychiatry 2024; 67:e9. [PMID: 38228324 DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2024.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND An association between sensationalized media reporting and subsequent increase in suicidal behavior has been documented, and adolescents are especially vulnerable to imitative influences. The aims of this study were to examine the characteristics of the articles reporting adult and adolescent (under age 18) suicides in the Italian press and to assess adherence to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for responsible reporting. Methods: The print versions of the three newspapers with the widest national distribution in Italy were searched for all the articles on incident suicides printed over a 7-month period (July 2022 to February 2023). Articles were examined for adherence to the WHO guidelines. Results: Overall, 213 articles were identified, reporting on 122 individual suicide cases (88.5% adults and 11.5% adolescents). Of the articles, 78.9% were on adults and 21.1% on adolescents, with a ratio articles/suicide cases of 1.6 for adults and 3.2 for adolescents (p < 0.0001). Adolescent suicide articles had more words (mean 612.5 ± SD 275.6) than adult ones (462.1 ± 267.7, p = 0.001). Potentially harmful reporting features were present in both the adult and adolescent articles (12-82%). Few articles (0-15%) included protective features. Articles on adolescents were more adherent to the WHO guidelines for omitting specific information of suicide method and location. Conclusions: Significant differences were found in the press reporting of adolescent versus adult suicides, with adolescent suicides receiving more attention in terms of the number of articles and article length. Suicide press reporting can be improved. A close collaboration between journalists and suicide prevention experts may be beneficial.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Davico
- Section of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Luca Arletti
- Section of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Giulia Silverio
- Section of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Daniele Marcotulli
- Section of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Federica S Ricci
- Section of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | | | - Benedetto Vitiello
- Section of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- Department of Mental Health, School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Kirchner S, Niederkrotenthaler T. Experiences of suicide survivors of sharing their stories about suicidality and overcoming a crisis in media and public talks: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health 2024; 24:142. [PMID: 38200460 PMCID: PMC10777649 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-17661-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Media stories of hope and recovery from suicidal ideation have been found to have a positive impact on the audience, but little is known about how individuals who share their own experiences perceive the effects of their storytelling. This study aimed to assess qualitatively, through focus groups, how individuals who shared their personal story of hope and recovery in the media and public talks experienced the process, and which aspects they perceived as important in sharing their coping story. METHODS Three focus groups were conducted with a total of n = 12 individuals. These included n = 5 participants with experience of suicidal ideation or a suicide attempt, n = 4 individuals who had been bereaved through suicide, and n = 3 participants who experienced both. Participants were recruited from the American organisation "Suicide Survivors United". Thematic analysis was used to assess the participants' perception and experiences of sharing their story. RESULTS Participants shared that the intention to help others was the main motivation to share their story of hope and recovery. Participants noted many positive effects of their storytelling on themselves and also received positive feedback from the audience, such as improved help-seeking attitudes. The participants offered recommendations for those who want to share their story of hope and recovery, including careful personal preparation and media training before going public. They also discussed media recommendations for talking about suicide in the media. CONCLUSIONS Sharing a personal story of hope and recovery may have a beneficial impact on the storytellers. Storytelling requires a careful preparation and training before going public and support and guidance is crucial in all stages of the storytelling, particularly to help unexperienced storytellers in going public and using their personal narratives to help prevent suicide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Kirchner
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, Vienna, 1090, Austria.
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, Vienna, 1090, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
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Chen YY, Chen F, Wu KCC, Lu TH, Chi YC, Yip PS. Dynamic reciprocal relationships between traditional media reports, social media postings, and youth suicide in Taiwan between 2012 and 2021. SSM Popul Health 2023; 24:101543. [PMID: 37965108 PMCID: PMC10641279 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/21/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Rising social media use over the past decade has been linked with increasing suicide rates among young people. Previous studies that assessed the impact of social media on suicide have typically focused on single social media platforms, such as Twitter, and assumed unidirectional associations, where social media posts leads to suicide. Our study focused on the past decade (2012-2021) which has witnessed a rapid increase of social media platforms and use. Poisson and negative binominal auto-regression models were employed to examine the dynamic reciprocity between social media, traditional media and youth suicides in Taiwan. Increased volume in suicide-related social media posts positively correlated with increased youth suicide rates (β = 2.53 × 10-5, 95% CI= (0.83 × 10-5, 4.24 × 10-5), P < 0.01), but increased rates of youth suicide was not related to an increase in suicide-related social media posts. Suicide-related posts on social media triggered reporting of suicide-related news on traditional media platforms (β = 3.35 × 10-2, 95% CI= (2.51 × 10-2, 4.19 × 10-2), P < 0.001), whilst traditional media reports of suicide led to increased suicide-related social media posts (β = 6.13 × 10-1, 95% CI = (4.58 × 10-1, 7.68 × 10-1); P < 0.001). However, suicide-related reports on traditional media platforms did not directly lead to an increase in youth suicide rates. Our findings highlight challenges for suicide prevention strategies in the 21st Century, in dealing with the increasing prominence of social media over traditional media. As social media is more difficult to regulate than traditional media, suicide prevention efforts must adapt to this new landscape by developing innovative strategies that address the unique risks and opportunities presented by social media.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying-Yeh Chen
- Taipei City Psychiatric Centre, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan
- Institute of Public Health, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Feng Chen
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- UNSW Data Science Hub (uDASH), the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Kevin Chien-Chang Wu
- Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Bioethics, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei City, Taiwan
- Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Tsung-Hsueh Lu
- Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Ying-Chen Chi
- Department of Healthcare Information and Management, Ming Chuan University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
| | - Paul S.F. Yip
- Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
- The Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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Lueck JA, Poe M. Werther or Papageno? Examining the effects of news reports of celebrity suicide versus non-celebrity peer suicide on intentions to seek help among vulnerable young adults. Suicide Life Threat Behav 2023; 53:1038-1054. [PMID: 37750193 DOI: 10.1111/sltb.13004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2021] [Revised: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/27/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION A large body of literature has examined the Werther effect following news reports of suicide, yet much less attention has been paid to the protective Papageno effect. This research explored the causal relationships between news reports of real celebrity suicides (e.g., pop-rock star Chester Bennington) and real non-celebrity "peer" suicides (e.g., college student Madison Holleran) and intentions to seek help. METHODS Two survey experiments confirmed successful experimental manipulation (N = 280) and tested behavioral theory, clinical indicators, and intentions to seek help (N = 641) in samples of college students (18-25). RESULTS Participants were motivated to seek help if they believed it could lead to positive outcomes, yet this was less likely among participants with depression. Exposure to news reports of non-celebrity suicides had a small positive effect on help-seeking intentions. Among participants with depression, news reports of celebrity suicides had a small positive effect on intentions. CONCLUSIONS This research could not establish Werther effects for either of the news reports. Exposure to news reports of non-celebrity suicides had a small positive effect on intentions overall, but young adults with higher levels of depression were slightly more motivated to seek help after viewing news reports of celebrity suicides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer A Lueck
- Department of Communication, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Madison Poe
- Department of International Development, University of Oxford, Oxford, England
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Till B, Arendt F, Kirchner S, Naderer B, Niederkrotenthaler T. The role of monocausal versus multicausal explanations of suicide in suicide reporting: A randomized controlled trial. Suicide Life Threat Behav 2023; 53:1063-1075. [PMID: 37823595 DOI: 10.1111/sltb.13007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Revised: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Media guidelines for reporting on suicide recommend that journalists should avoid monocausal explanations of suicide, but it is unclear if media items with monocausal explanations elicit different effects as compared to multicausal portrayals. METHOD Using a web-based randomized controlled trial (n = 969), we tested five versions of a news article about the suicide of a teenage girl with varying portrayals of reasons for the suicide: (1) bullying as the sole (external) factor (i.e., monocausal), (2) several external social factors, (3) a combination of internal and external factors, (4) a combination of internal and external factors along with a focus on suicide prevention, or (5) no reason for the suicide (control group). We measured perceptions about the cause of suicide, attitudes toward suicide and suicide prevention, and identification with the suicidal protagonist with questionnaires. RESULTS Readers of articles that portrayed suicide as being caused by one specific reason or exclusively social factors tended to adopt these misconceptions. Identification with the suicidal protagonist did not vary between interventions groups, but was lower in the control group. CONCLUSION Highlighting the multifactorial etiology of suicide in news articles may help to avoid the misconception that suicide is a monocausal issue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benedikt Till
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Florian Arendt
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Communication, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Stefanie Kirchner
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Brigitte Naderer
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
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Tørmoen AJ, Myhre MØ, Kildahl AT, Walby FA, Rossow I. A nationwide study on time spent on social media and self-harm among adolescents. Sci Rep 2023; 13:19111. [PMID: 37925469 PMCID: PMC10625526 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46370-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Self-harm among adolescents has increased in many countries, but few studies have examined possible explanations. One explanation could be the changes in the way adolescents socialize and use of social media. We explored the relationship between past year self-harm and time spent on social media, employing data from a nationwide cross-sectional survey among students in grades 8 through 11 in Norway (N = 37,268). The association was estimated in logistic regression models and we adjusted for identified confounders and stratified on gender, age group and depressive symptoms. A total of 16.1% of the study population reported to have self-harmed in the past year. This proportion was elevated among those spending more than 3 h daily on social media (unadjusted OR = 2.74 (CI 2.58.-2.90)). Adjustment for confounders modified the association (OR = 1.49 (CI 1.39-1.60)). In stratified analyses, adjusted OR did not differ significantly by gender or age The association between time spent on social media and self-harm was weaker among adolescents with severe depressive symptoms (adjusted OR = 1.38 (CI 1.22-1.55)), than among those with mild or no symptoms (adjusted OR = 1.70 (CI 1.56-1.86)). Risk of self-harm was elevated among those who spent 3 or more hours daily on social media, also after controlling for other factors. Further studies are needed to explore the nature and underlying mechanisms of this association. Strengthening the evidence will help informing the development of adequate measures to prevent self-harm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Johanna Tørmoen
- National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Martin Øverlien Myhre
- National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Anine Therese Kildahl
- National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Fredrik Andreas Walby
- National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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Favril L, Yu R, Geddes JR, Fazel S. Individual-level risk factors for suicide mortality in the general population: an umbrella review. Lancet Public Health 2023; 8:e868-e877. [PMID: 37898519 PMCID: PMC10932753 DOI: 10.1016/s2468-2667(23)00207-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Revised: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/30/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Deaths by suicide remain a major public health challenge worldwide. Identifying and targeting risk factors for suicide mortality is a potential approach to prevention. We aimed to summarise current knowledge on the range and magnitude of individual-level risk factors for suicide mortality in the general population and evaluate the quality of the evidence. METHODS In this umbrella review, five bibliographic databases were systematically searched for articles published from database inception to Aug 31, 2022. We included meta-analyses of observational studies on individual-level risk factors for suicide mortality in the general population. Biological, genetic, perinatal, and ecological risk factors were beyond the scope of this study. Effect sizes were synthesised and compared across domains. To test robustness and consistency of the findings, evidence for small-study effects and excess significance bias (ie, the ratio between the overall meta-analysis effect size and that of its largest included study) was examined, and prediction intervals were calculated. Risk of bias was assessed by the Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews instrument. The protocol was pre-registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021230119). FINDINGS We identified 33 meta-analyses on 38 risk factors for suicide mortality in the general population. 422 (93%) of the 454 primary studies included in the meta-analyses were from high-income countries. A previous suicide attempt and suicidal ideation emerged as strong risk factors (with effect sizes ranging from 6 to 16). Psychiatric disorders were associated with a greatly elevated risk of suicide mortality, with risk ratios in the range of 4-13. Suicide risk for physical illnesses (such as cancer and epilepsy) and sociodemographic factors (including unemployment and low education) were typically increased two-fold. Contact with the criminal justice system, state care in childhood, access to firearms, and parental death by suicide also increased the risk of suicide mortality. Among risk factors for which sex-stratified analyses were available, associations were generally similar for males and females. However, the quality of the evidence was limited by excess significance and high heterogeneity, and prediction intervals suggested poor replicability for almost two-thirds of identified risk factors. INTERPRETATION A wide range of risk factors were identified across various domains, which underscores suicide mortality as a multifactorial phenomenon. Prevention strategies that span individual and population approaches should account for the identified factors and their relative strengths. Despite the large number of risk factors investigated, few associations were supported by robust evidence. Evidence of causal inference will need to be tested in high-quality study designs. FUNDING Wellcome Trust.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louis Favril
- Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy, Faculty of Law and Criminology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Rongqin Yu
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - John R Geddes
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Seena Fazel
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
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Spittal MJ, Roberts L, Clapperton A. Using Real-Time Suicide Monitoring Systems to Inform Policy and Practice. CRISIS 2023; 44:445-450. [PMID: 37946504 DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Spittal
- Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Leo Roberts
- Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Angela Clapperton
- Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Sufrate-Sorzano T, Di Nitto M, Garrote-Cámara ME, Molina-Luque F, Recio-Rodríguez JI, Asión-Polo P, Durante Á, Gea-Caballero V, Juárez-Vela R, Pérez J, Santolalla-Arnedo I. Media Exposure of Suicidal Behaviour: An Umbrella Review. NURSING REPORTS 2023; 13:1486-1499. [PMID: 37987404 PMCID: PMC10660843 DOI: 10.3390/nursrep13040125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Revised: 10/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023] Open
Abstract
AIM To analyse recommended interventions for the safe and responsible dissemination of suicidal behaviour in the media for preventive purposes. BACKGROUND Suicide is a serious public health problem that leads to more than 700,000 deaths per year, which translates into one death every forty seconds. The media play a significant role in shaping public perceptions and reflecting societal issues. Because of its active role in the construction of reality, the way in which the media report and expose suicidal behaviour has the capacity to influence the population in either a preventive or harmful way. DESIGN An umbrella review was carried out and a report was written according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Overviews of Reviews. METHODS We systematically searched for reviews published from inception to February 2023 in MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL and PsycInfo (via EBSCOhost), Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews, Scopus, and Google Scholar. A narrative synthesis of the results was conducted. RESULTS Six systematic reviews with a moderate to high quality level were selected. Among the recommended interventions were the inclusion of positive messages of hope, resilience, or of overcoming the event, narratives with information on available resources or the promotion of support-seeking attitudes as an effective prevention mechanism, as well as the avoidance of repetitive reporting of the same suicide. The appropriate and responsible dissemination of information on suicidal behaviour in the media with complete and up-to-date information on available centres, organisations, institutions, and resources has proven to be effective, especially in vulnerable populations. CONCLUSION Educating and training the media in an appropriate approach to disseminating suicidal behaviour helps to reduce the number of suicidal behaviours. Knowing what information is advisable to include in the news item as well as what information to avoid is a strong point. Guidelines to promote responsible media reporting are a key component of suicide prevention strategies. This study was prospectively registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) on 23 April 2022 with the registration number CRD42022320393.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Sufrate-Sorzano
- Care and Health Research Group, GRUPAC, Nursing Deparment, University of La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain; (T.S.-S.); (M.E.G.-C.); (I.S.-A.)
- Biomedical Research Centre of La Rioja, CIBIR, 26006 Logroño, Spain
| | - Marco Di Nitto
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, 16126 Genova, Italy;
| | - María Elena Garrote-Cámara
- Care and Health Research Group, GRUPAC, Nursing Deparment, University of La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain; (T.S.-S.); (M.E.G.-C.); (I.S.-A.)
- Biomedical Research Centre of La Rioja, CIBIR, 26006 Logroño, Spain
| | - Fidel Molina-Luque
- Faculty of Education, Psychology and Social Work, University of Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain;
- Group for the Study of Society, Health, Education and Culture (GESEC), University of Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
- Research Institute in Social and Territorial Development (INDEST), University of Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
| | - José Ignacio Recio-Rodríguez
- Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain;
- Primary Care Research Unit of Salamanca (APISAL), Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca (IBSAL), 37008 Salamanca, Spain
| | | | - Ángela Durante
- Department of Translational Medicine, University of East Piedmonet, 13100 Vercelli, Italy;
| | - Vicente Gea-Caballero
- Faculty of Health Sciences, International University of Valencia, 46002 Valencia, Spain;
| | - Raúl Juárez-Vela
- Care and Health Research Group, GRUPAC, Nursing Deparment, University of La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain; (T.S.-S.); (M.E.G.-C.); (I.S.-A.)
- Biomedical Research Centre of La Rioja, CIBIR, 26006 Logroño, Spain
- Prevention and Early Intervention in Mental Health (PRINT), Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca (IBSAL), 37008 Salamanca, Spain;
| | - Jesús Pérez
- Prevention and Early Intervention in Mental Health (PRINT), Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca (IBSAL), 37008 Salamanca, Spain;
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UK
| | - Iván Santolalla-Arnedo
- Care and Health Research Group, GRUPAC, Nursing Deparment, University of La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain; (T.S.-S.); (M.E.G.-C.); (I.S.-A.)
- Biomedical Research Centre of La Rioja, CIBIR, 26006 Logroño, Spain
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Levi-Belz Y, Starostintzki Malonek R, Hamdan S. Trends in Newspaper Coverage of Suicide in Israel: An 8-Year Longitudinal Study. Arch Suicide Res 2023; 27:1191-1206. [PMID: 36036903 DOI: 10.1080/13811118.2022.2111534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The nature of newspaper coverage of suicide events can impact suicide risk. Thus, the World Health Organization published recommendations for reporting suicide in the media. To date, Israel has no data regarding adherence to these media guidelines and no indication of the influence of the Israeli National Suicide Prevention Program (NSPP) on adherence. Aiming to fill these gaps, the current study examined (1) Israeli newspapers' adherence to the guidelines for suicide coverage and (2) the impact of the NSPP on the adherence level of media reporting. METHOD Adherence to newspapers coverage guidelines was examined in two leading Israeli newspapers at three time points: T1 (2012, two years before the NSPP's establishment), T2 (2016-2017, 2-3 years after its establishment), and T3 (2018-2019, 4-5 years after NSPP's establishment). All articles reporting on suicide or suicidal behavior were analyzed at each time point regarding their adherence to the media guidelines. RESULTS Two hundred articles were assessed and analyzed. The adherence level was 49.35% across all time points. We found improved adherence at T2 (after the initiation of the NSPP) in most of the guidelines but a slight decline at T3. Adherence to guidelines regarding prevention (Do guidelines) showed no significant improvement over time. CONCLUSIONS General adherence to guidelines was relatively low. However, steps can be taken to improve media coverage of suicide stories. The NSPP should make greater efforts to promote changes in media coverage of suicide events in Israel, such as providing information about risk factors, prevention, and intervention. HIGHLIGHTSA longitudinal study examined Israeli newspapers over three time points in the last decade.General adherence level to the suicide coverage guidelines was 49.35% across all time points.The National Suicide Prevention Program was linked to improvement in adherence to most guidelines.
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Ribeiro E, Granado A, Gomes J, Ramos F. Suicide mortality in Portugal after 4 mediatized suicides from 1996 to 2020. Heliyon 2023; 9:e20753. [PMID: 37867867 PMCID: PMC10585219 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Revised: 09/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Many international studies describe a relation between prominent and sensational suicide reporting and subsequent rises in suicide rates - the Werther effect -, especially when involving celebrities, but that relation has never been investigated in Portugal. In this article, we intend to examine whether there were increases in suicides in Portugal in the 3 and 5 months following four national mediatized suicides, including a triple youth suicide and the suicides of two famous entertainment celebrities and a well-known journalist. We used monthly suicide count data for Portugal from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) for the period of January 1990 to December 2020, stratified by sex, method, and age group. We conducted a Poisson regression model to determine if there were changes in suicide mortality in the 3 and 5 months after the selected suicides. We found statistically significant increases in total, male, and same age group suicides after the death of actor Pedro Lima and a rise in total, female, same age group, and poisoning suicides following the death of singer Cândida Branca Flor. However, in the latter case, the rises coincide with a major change in the suicide counting system. No such statistically significant increases in suicides were found in the months following the other two suicide cases, either by method, sex, or age group. Our findings show that the Werther Effect appears to occur in some, but not all, cases of mediatized suicides in Portugal, but these results should be considered amid several contextual factors. They provide an opportunity to alert media professionals to the importance of making suicide reporting in Portugal more responsible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eudora Ribeiro
- ICNOVA - Instituto de Comunicação da NOVA, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. de Berna, 26 C, 1069-061, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - António Granado
- ICNOVA - Instituto de Comunicação da NOVA, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - João Gomes
- CEAUL - Centro de Estatística e Aplicações, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Filipe Ramos
- CEAUL - Centro de Estatística e Aplicações, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
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Hoops K, Nestadt PS, Dredze M. The case for social media standards on suicide. Lancet Psychiatry 2023; 10:662-664. [PMID: 37453437 DOI: 10.1016/s2215-0366(23)00222-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Katherine Hoops
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
| | - Paul S Nestadt
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Mark Dredze
- Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Wang H, Yue Z, S D. Challenges with using popular entertainment to address mental health: a content analysis of Netflix series 13 Reasons Why controversy in mainstream news coverage. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1214822. [PMID: 37711419 PMCID: PMC10498920 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1214822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Mental health conditions and psychiatric disorders are among the leading causes of illness, disability, and death among young people around the globe. In the United States, teen suicide has increased by about 30% in the last decade. Raising awareness of warning signs and promoting access to mental health resources can help reduce suicide rates for at-risk youth. However, death by suicide remains a taboo topic for public discourse and societal intervention. An unconventional approach to address taboo topics in society is the use of popular media. Method We conducted a quantitative content analysis of mainstream news reporting on the controversial Netflix series 13 Reasons Why Season 1. Using a combination of top-down and bottom-up search strategies, our final sample consisted of 97 articles published between March 31 and May 31, 2017, from 16 media outlets in 3,150 sentences. We systematically examined the news framing in these articles in terms of content and valence, the salience of health/social issue related frames, and their compliance with the WHO guidelines. Results Nearly a third of the content directly addressed issues of our interest: 61.6% was about suicide and 38.4% was about depression, bullying, sexual assault, and other related health/social issues; it was more negative (42.8%) than positive (17.4%). The criticism focused on the risk of suicide contagion, glamorizing teen suicide, and the portrayal of parents and educators as indifferent and incompetent. The praise was about the show raising awareness of real and difficult issues young people struggle with in their everyday life and serving as a conversation starter to spur meaningful discussions. Our evaluation of WHO guideline compliance for reporting on suicide yielded mixed results. Although we found recommended practices across all major categories, they were minimal and could be improved. Conclusion Despite their well intentions and best efforts, the 13 Reasons Why production team missed several critical opportunities to be better prepared and more effective in creating social impact entertainment and fostering difficult dialogs. There is an urgent need to train news reporters about established health communication guidelines and promote best practices in media reporting on sensitive topics such as suicide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hua Wang
- Department of Communication, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, United States
| | - Zhiying Yue
- Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Divya S
- Department of Communication Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
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Aluri J, Haddad JM, Parke S, Schwartz V, Joshi SV, Menon M, Conrad RC. Responding to Suicide in School Communities: An Examination of Postvention Guidance from Expert Recommendations and Empirical Studies. Curr Psychiatry Rep 2023; 25:345-356. [PMID: 37470928 DOI: 10.1007/s11920-023-01431-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW We review the published literature on a school's response after a student dies by suicide ("postvention"). We examine published recommendations based on expert guidance and empirical studies that have evaluated postvention measures. RECENT FINDINGS Experts recommend careful communication with family, staff, and students that adheres to published suicide reporting guidelines. Experts also emphasize the importance of identifying and supporting high-risk students. Few robust, controlled studies have identified effective postvention measures. Effective measures tended to occur in group settings (e.g., group therapy), focus on improving grief symptoms, and involve mental health professionals. Postvention has not been robustly studied in the school context. Expert recommendations and a few evidence-backed studies provide the frame for a coherent, school-based postvention response. Further research is needed to strengthen and expand our collective understanding of effective postvention measures in the school context as youth suicide attempts continue to rise.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Aluri
- Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 600 N. Wolfe St., Meyer 3-181c, 21287, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - Jessi M Haddad
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia and Cornell, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Susan Parke
- Div. of Law & Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
- Medical Director, Community Forensic Services, Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, USA
| | - Victor Schwartz
- Wellness and Student Life, CUNY School of Medicine, New York, USA
| | - Shashank V Joshi
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA
| | - Meera Menon
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, USA
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Menon V, Kar SK, Ransing R, Sharma G, Pattnaik JI, Varadharajan N, Kaliamoorthy C, Mukherjee S, Agrawal A, Padhy SK, Arafat SMY. Long-Term Changes in the Quality of Media Reporting of Suicide Following a Celebrity Suicide in India. OMEGA-JOURNAL OF DEATH AND DYING 2023:302228231189849. [PMID: 37453041 DOI: 10.1177/00302228231189849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Online portals of selected English and local language newspapers and television channels were searched to identify suicide news reports published one year after the celebrity suicide (ACS). These reports (n = 1952) were compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, immediately following the celebrity suicide (ICS) (n = 2486), and a three-month period before the celebrity suicide (BCS) (n = 1381) to assess longitudinal changes in quality of media reporting. There was a decline in reporting of several potentially harmful characteristics over time such as mentioning the deceased's age and gender (p < .001 for both), and location of suicide (p < .001). The quality of media reporting of suicide was significantly better at one year compared to the period immediately following celebrity suicide. This change was mainly driven by an improvement in the reporting quality of English news reports while local language reports continued to remain poorly adherent to reporting guidelines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vikas Menon
- Department of Psychiatry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India
| | | | - Ramdas Ransing
- Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Guwahati, India
| | - Ginni Sharma
- King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India
| | | | - Natarajan Varadharajan
- Department of Psychiatry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India
| | - Charanya Kaliamoorthy
- Department of Psychiatry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India
| | | | | | - Susanta Kumar Padhy
- Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India
| | - S M Yasir Arafat
- Department of Psychiatry, Enam Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh
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Niederkrotenthaler T, Tran US, Baginski H, Sinyor M, Strauss MJ, Sumner SA, Voracek M, Till B, Murphy S, Gonzalez F, Gould M, Garcia D, Draper J, Metzler H. Association of 7 million+ tweets featuring suicide-related content with daily calls to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline and with suicides, United States, 2016-2018. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2023; 57:994-1003. [PMID: 36239594 PMCID: PMC10947496 DOI: 10.1177/00048674221126649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to assess associations of various content areas of Twitter posts with help-seeking from the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) and with suicides. METHODS We retrieved 7,150,610 suicide-related tweets geolocated to the United States and posted between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2018. Using a specially devised machine-learning approach, we categorized posts into content about prevention, suicide awareness, personal suicidal ideation without coping, personal coping and recovery, suicide cases and other. We then applied seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average analyses to assess associations of tweet categories with daily calls to the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) and suicides on the same day. We hypothesized that coping-related and prevention-related tweets are associated with greater help-seeking and potentially fewer suicides. RESULTS The percentage of posts per category was 15.4% (standard deviation: 7.6%) for awareness, 13.8% (standard deviation: 9.4%) for prevention, 12.3% (standard deviation: 9.1%) for suicide cases, 2.4% (standard deviation: 2.1%) for suicidal ideation without coping and 0.8% (standard deviation: 1.7%) for coping posts. Tweets about prevention were positively associated with Lifeline calls (B = 1.94, SE = 0.73, p = 0.008) and negatively associated with suicides (B = -0.11, standard error = 0.05, p = 0.038). Total number of tweets were negatively associated with calls (B = -0.01, standard error = 0.0003, p = 0.007) and positively associated with suicide, (B = 6.4 × 10-5, standard error = 2.6 × 10-5, p = 0.015). CONCLUSION This is the first large-scale study to suggest that daily volume of specific suicide-prevention-related social media content on Twitter corresponds to higher daily levels of help-seeking behaviour and lower daily number of suicide deaths. PREREGISTRATION As Predicted, #66922, 26 May 2021.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrich S Tran
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hubert Baginski
- Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Institute of Information Systems Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mark Sinyor
- Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Markus J Strauss
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Steven A Sumner
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Martin Voracek
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Benedikt Till
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sean Murphy
- Vibrant Emotional Health, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, New York, NY, USA
| | - Frances Gonzalez
- Vibrant Emotional Health, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, New York, NY, USA
| | - Madelyn Gould
- Departments of Psychiatry and Epidemiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - David Garcia
- Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Institute of Interactive Systems and Data Science, Faculty of Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
| | - John Draper
- Vibrant Emotional Health, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, New York, NY, USA
| | - Hannah Metzler
- Unit Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Institute of Interactive Systems and Data Science, Faculty of Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
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Kim LH, Lee GM, Lee WR, Yoo KB. The Werther effect following the suicides of three korean celebrities (2017-2018): an ecological time-series study. BMC Public Health 2023; 23:1173. [PMID: 37337158 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-16080-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The suicide rate in Korea was the highest among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) for 2013-2016 and 2018-2020. In korea, suicide was the leading cause of death among individuals aged 10-39, and the second leading cause of death for aged 40-59. Thus, this study aimed to examine the Werther effect of the suicides of three Korean idol singers (Jonghyun: December 18, 2017, Sulli: October 14, 2019, and Hara Gu: November 24, 2019). METHODS The study conducted Poisson regression and used the cause-of-death statistics microdata from 2016 to 2020 provided by Statistics Korea. The case periods ranged from the day of the suicide of each celebrity to 10 weeks after. The control periods were all weeks from 2016 to 2020, excluding the case periods. RESULTS The suicide rates in Korea significantly increased by 1.21, 1.30, and 1.28 times after the deaths of Jonghyun, Sulli, and Hara Gu, respectively. The Werther effect was more evident in women than men. Suicide rate among individuals aged 10-29 years was greater than those for other age groups. CONCLUSIONS This study confirmed that the rate of copycat suicides increased after three celebrity singers in Korea died by suicide. Nevertheless, the rate of suicide after the suicide of the three celebrity singers was lower than those in previous studies in Korea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Hyun Kim
- Department of Healthcare Institution Support, National Health Insurance Service, Wonju, Republic of Korea
| | - Gyeong-Min Lee
- Department of premedical, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
| | - Woo-Ri Lee
- Department of Resarch and Analysis, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Republic of Korea
| | - Ki-Bong Yoo
- Division of Health Administration, College of Software and Digital Healthcare Convergence, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
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O'Connor RC, Worthman CM, Abanga M, Athanassopoulou N, Boyce N, Chan LF, Christensen H, Das-Munshi J, Downs J, Koenen KC, Moutier CY, Templeton P, Batterham P, Brakspear K, Frank RG, Gilbody S, Gureje O, Henderson D, John A, Kabagambe W, Khan M, Kessler D, Kirtley OJ, Kline S, Kohrt B, Lincoln AK, Lund C, Mendenhall E, Miranda R, Mondelli V, Niederkrotenthaler T, Osborn D, Pirkis J, Pisani AR, Prawira B, Rachidi H, Seedat S, Siskind D, Vijayakumar L, Yip PSF. Gone Too Soon: priorities for action to prevent premature mortality associated with mental illness and mental distress. Lancet Psychiatry 2023; 10:452-464. [PMID: 37182526 DOI: 10.1016/s2215-0366(23)00058-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Revised: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Globally, too many people die prematurely from suicide and the physical comorbidities associated with mental illness and mental distress. The purpose of this Review is to mobilise the translation of evidence into prioritised actions that reduce this inequity. The mental health research charity, MQ Mental Health Research, convened an international panel that used roadmapping methods and review evidence to identify key factors, mechanisms, and solutions for premature mortality across the social-ecological system. We identified 12 key overarching risk factors and mechanisms, with more commonalities than differences across the suicide and physical comorbidities domains. We also identified 18 actionable solutions across three organising principles: the integration of mental and physical health care; the prioritisation of prevention while strengthening treatment; and the optimisation of intervention synergies across social-ecological levels and the intervention cycle. These solutions included accessible, integrated high-quality primary care; early life, workplace, and community-based interventions co-designed by the people they should serve; decriminalisation of suicide and restriction of access to lethal means; stigma reduction; reduction of income, gender, and racial inequality; and increased investment. The time to act is now, to rebuild health-care systems, leverage changes in funding landscapes, and address the effects of stigma, discrimination, marginalisation, gender violence, and victimisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rory C O'Connor
- Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory, School of Health & Wellbeing, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
| | | | - Marie Abanga
- Hope for the Abused and Battered, Douala, Cameroon
| | | | | | - Lai Fong Chan
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Helen Christensen
- Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney and the Black Dog Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Jayati Das-Munshi
- Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College London, London, UK; Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, and Centre for Society and Mental Health, King's College London, London, UK; South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - James Downs
- Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK and Faculty of Wellbeing, Education, and Language Studies, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | | | | | - Peter Templeton
- The William Templeton Foundation for Young People's Mental Health, Cambridge, UK
| | - Philip Batterham
- Centre for Mental Health Research, College of Health and Medicine, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | | | | | - Simon Gilbody
- York Mental Health and Addictions Research Group, University of York, York, UK
| | - Oye Gureje
- WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health, Neuroscience, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
| | - David Henderson
- Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ann John
- Swansea University Medical School, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | | | - Murad Khan
- Brain & Mind Institute, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - David Kessler
- Bristol Population Health Science Institute, Centre for Academic Mental Health, Centre for Academic Primary Care, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Olivia J Kirtley
- Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Brandon Kohrt
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Alisa K Lincoln
- Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Crick Lund
- Health Services and Population Research Department, King's College London, London, UK; Centre for Global Mental Health, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Emily Mendenhall
- Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Regina Miranda
- Hunter College, Department of Psychology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Valeria Mondelli
- Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
- Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Suicide Research & Mental Health Promotion Unit, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - David Osborn
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Jane Pirkis
- Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Anthony R Pisani
- University of Rochester Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, SafeSide Prevention, Rochester, NY, USA
| | | | | | - Soraya Seedat
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, SAMRC Genomics of Brain Disorders Unit, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Dan Siskind
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | | | - Paul S F Yip
- Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
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Onoja IB, Ojih SEU, Onoja PO, Onoja NM, Bebenimibo P, Akor SE. Nigerian newspapers coverage of suicide: Assessment of adherence to WHO suicide reporting guidelines. Indian J Psychiatry 2023; 65:579-585. [PMID: 37397849 PMCID: PMC10309254 DOI: 10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_537_22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Revised: 01/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Context Despite an increase in research evidence on media compliance with suicide reporting guidelines globally, evidence from Nigeria seems to be relatively limited. Aim This study assessed the prevalence of World Health Organization (WHO) helpful/harmful suicide reporting cues in suicide stories reported by Nigerian newspapers in 2021. Setting and Design The setting is the entire Nigeria and the design is descriptive. Method Quantitative content analysis method was adopted and 205 online suicide-related stories from news portals of 10 purposefully selected newspapers were analyzed. The newspapers selected were among the top 20 in Nigeria and had higher circulation/coverage and considerable online presence. Evaluation framework was designed following moderated WHO guidelines. Statistical Analysis Used Descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) were used for the analysis. Results The study suggested high prevalence of harmful reporting and near absence of helpful suicide reporting cues among Nigerian newspapers. Majority of the stories, 95.6% mentioned suicide in the headline; 79.5% provided details on the suicide methods employed; 66.3% offered mono-causal explanation to suicide; and 59% featured images of suicide victims and/or suicide-related graphics. Helpful reporting cues were almost nonexistence as only less than 4% of the stories traced warning signs, reported mental health experts/professionals' opinions, featured research findings/population level statistics, and provided details on the identity/contact of suicide prevention programs/support services. Conclusion Prevalence of harmful suicide-reporting practice among Nigerian Newspaper presented a gloomy future for suicide prevention in the country. There be training and motivation programs for health/crime reporters/editors on responsive media coverage of suicide following (a domesticated) WHO guidelines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ibe Ben Onoja
- Department of Mass Communication, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria
| | | | | | - Nelson Monday Onoja
- Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria
| | - Paul Bebenimibo
- Department of Mass Communication, Delta State University, Uruoka, Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria
| | - Shedrack Egbunu Akor
- Department of Chemical Pathology, Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria
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Hughes JL, Horowitz LM, Ackerman JP, Adrian MC, Campo JV, Bridge JA. Suicide in young people: screening, risk assessment, and intervention. BMJ 2023; 381:e070630. [PMID: 37094838 DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2022-070630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2023]
Abstract
Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among young people worldwide and the third leading cause of death among those in the US. This review outlines the epidemiology of suicide and suicidal behavior in young people. It discusses intersectionality as an emerging framework to guide research on prevention of suicide in young people and highlights several clinical and community settings that are prime targets for implementation of effective treatment programs and interventions aimed at rapidly reducing the suicide rate in young people. It provides an overview of current approaches to screening and assessment of suicide risk in young people and the commonly used screening tools and assessment measures. It discusses universal, selective, and indicated evidence based suicide focused interventions and highlights components of psychosocial interventions with the strongest evidence for reducing risk. Finally, the review discusses suicide prevention strategies in community settings and considers future research directions and questions challenging the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L Hughes
- Big Lots Behavioral Health Services at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Lisa M Horowitz
- Office of the Clinical Director, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Mental Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - John P Ackerman
- Big Lots Behavioral Health Services at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Molly C Adrian
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - John V Campo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Jeffrey A Bridge
- Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA
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50
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Ueda M, Watanabe K, Sueki H. Emotional Distress During COVID-19 due to Mental Health Conditions and Economic Vulnerability: Retrospective Analysis of Survey-Linked Twitter Data With a Semisupervised Machine Learning Algorithm. J Med Internet Res 2023; 25:e44965. [PMID: 36809798 PMCID: PMC10022650 DOI: 10.2196/44965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Revised: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Monitoring the psychological conditions of social media users during rapidly developing public health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, using their posts on social media has rapidly gained popularity as a relatively easy and cost-effective method. However, the characteristics of individuals who created these posts are largely unknown, making it difficult to identify groups of individuals most affected by such crises. In addition, large annotated data sets for mental health conditions are not easily available, and thus, supervised machine learning algorithms can be infeasible or too costly. OBJECTIVE This study proposes a machine learning framework for the real-time surveillance of mental health conditions that does not require extensive training data. Using survey-linked tweets, we tracked the level of emotional distress during the COVID-19 pandemic by the attributes and psychological conditions of social media users in Japan. METHODS We conducted online surveys of adults residing in Japan in May 2022 and collected their basic demographic information, socioeconomic status, and mental health conditions, along with their Twitter handles (N=2432). We computed emotional distress scores for all the tweets posted by the study participants between January 1, 2019, and May 30, 2022 (N=2,493,682) using a semisupervised algorithm called latent semantic scaling (LSS), with higher values indicating higher levels of emotional distress. After excluding users by age and other criteria, we examined 495,021 (19.85%) tweets generated by 560 (23.03%) individuals (age 18-49 years) in 2019 and 2020. We estimated fixed-effect regression models to examine their emotional distress levels in 2020 relative to the corresponding weeks in 2019 by the mental health conditions and characteristics of social media users. RESULTS The estimated level of emotional distress of our study participants increased in the week when school closure started (March 2020), and it peaked at the beginning of the state of emergency (estimated coefficient=0.219, 95% CI 0.162-0.276) in early April 2020. Their level of emotional distress was unrelated to the number of COVID-19 cases. We found that the government-induced restrictions disproportionately affected the psychological conditions of vulnerable individuals, including those with low income, precarious employment, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS This study establishes a framework to implement near-real-time monitoring of the emotional distress level of social media users, highlighting a great potential to continuously monitor their well-being using survey-linked social media posts as a complement to administrative and large-scale survey data. Given its flexibility and adaptability, the proposed framework is easily extendable for other purposes, such as detecting suicidality among social media users, and can be used on streaming data for continuous measurement of the conditions and sentiment of any group of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michiko Ueda
- Department of Public Administration and International Affairs, The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, United States.,Center for Policy Research, The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, United States
| | - Kohei Watanabe
- Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hajime Sueki
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Wako University, Tokyo, Japan
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