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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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Quality of Media Reporting of Suicide in Nepal. PSYCHIATRY JOURNAL 2022; 2022:5708092. [PMID: 35845252 PMCID: PMC9282984 DOI: 10.1155/2022/5708092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Objectives. Suicide is a major public health concern. Sensible media reporting of suicide is one of the important prevention strategies. There has been no report assessing the quality of media reporting of suicide in Nepal. We aimed to assess the quality of newspaper reporting of suicide in Nepal against the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting guidelines. Methods. We undertook a content analysis study of articles from the online archives on reporting of suicide deaths in six English language (daily or weekly) newspapers published in Nepal over the two-year duration from a period between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. Also, we compared them with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Results. A total of 165 English newspaper articles reporting on suicide were analyzed. 163 (98.8%) of news were published in the main section of the newspaper, and the mean length was 17.6 sentences. The name and age of the person who died of suicide were mentioned in about 69.1% (
) and 53.3% (
) articles, respectively. The most common method of suicide reported in the news articles was hanging (45.5%,
), followed by poisoning (11.5%,
). About 97.6% (
) of news articles violated the recommendation provided in the WHO guidelines. Conclusions. The adherence to the WHO guidelines for media reporting of suicide in Nepal was found to be poor, with a large majority of news reports having at least one potentially harmful media characteristic. Only a small minority of news reports included potentially helpful information to prevent suicide.
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Vijayakumar L, Shastri M, Fernandes TN, Bagra Y, Pathare A, Patel A, Jain P, Merchant Y, Armstrong G, Pathare S. Application of a Scorecard Tool for Assessing and Engaging Media on Responsible Reporting of Suicide-Related News in India. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:6206. [PMID: 34201213 PMCID: PMC8230035 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18126206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 05/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Each year there are more than 800,000 deaths by suicide across the world, while India alone accounts for one third of female suicides and one fourth of male suicides worldwide. Responsible media reporting of suicide is an important suicide prevention intervention at the population level. There is sufficient evidence to show that the way suicide is reported and portrayed in the media can have a significant impact on individuals experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Recognizing the important role of the media in suicide prevention, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued guidelines for responsible reporting of suicides by the media. The Press Council of India, in 2019 endorsed WHO's guidelines for media reporting of suicides, however there is no evidence that the Indian media is complying with these guidelines. METHODS To encourage responsible media reporting, we developed a scorecard to assess and rate media reports on suicide. We reviewed several resource documents that contained guidelines on responsible reporting of suicide. After consulting with a team of experts, we arrived at a scorecard that consisted of 10 positive and 10 negative parameters. RESULTS We applied the scorecard to 1318 reports on suicide from 9 English language newspapers, with the highest readership in India between the dates of 1 April to 30 June 2020. For the articles analyzed, the average positive score across all newspapers was 1.32 and the average negative score was 3.31. DISCUSSION The scorecard can be a useful tool to assess media reports on suicide and provide metrics for the same. It can facilitate improved monitoring and engagement with media organizations, who can quickly check their own reporting compliance to the WHO guidelines and compare how well they are performing compared to their peers over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lakshmi Vijayakumar
- Department of Psychiatry, Voluntary Health Services and SNEHA Suicide Prevention Centre, Tamil Nadu 600017, India
| | - Manisha Shastri
- Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, Indian Law Society, Pune 411004, India; (M.S.); (T.N.F.); (Y.B.); (A.P.); (A.P.); (P.J.); (Y.M.); (S.P.)
| | - Tanya Nicole Fernandes
- Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, Indian Law Society, Pune 411004, India; (M.S.); (T.N.F.); (Y.B.); (A.P.); (A.P.); (P.J.); (Y.M.); (S.P.)
| | - Yash Bagra
- Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, Indian Law Society, Pune 411004, India; (M.S.); (T.N.F.); (Y.B.); (A.P.); (A.P.); (P.J.); (Y.M.); (S.P.)
| | - Aaryaman Pathare
- Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, Indian Law Society, Pune 411004, India; (M.S.); (T.N.F.); (Y.B.); (A.P.); (A.P.); (P.J.); (Y.M.); (S.P.)
| | - Arpita Patel
- Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, Indian Law Society, Pune 411004, India; (M.S.); (T.N.F.); (Y.B.); (A.P.); (A.P.); (P.J.); (Y.M.); (S.P.)
| | - Padam Jain
- Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, Indian Law Society, Pune 411004, India; (M.S.); (T.N.F.); (Y.B.); (A.P.); (A.P.); (P.J.); (Y.M.); (S.P.)
| | - Yesha Merchant
- Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, Indian Law Society, Pune 411004, India; (M.S.); (T.N.F.); (Y.B.); (A.P.); (A.P.); (P.J.); (Y.M.); (S.P.)
| | - Gregory Armstrong
- Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Nossal Institute for Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia;
| | - Soumitra Pathare
- Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, Indian Law Society, Pune 411004, India; (M.S.); (T.N.F.); (Y.B.); (A.P.); (A.P.); (P.J.); (Y.M.); (S.P.)
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