The role of monocausal versus multicausal explanations of suicide in suicide reporting: A randomized controlled trial

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.

Associations of Tabloid Newspaper Use With Endorsement of Suicide Myths, Suicide-Related Knowledge, and Stigmatizing Attitudes Toward Suicidal Individuals

BACKGROUND

Educating the public about suicide is an important component of suicide prevention. So far, little is known about whether common misconceptions of suicide are related to individual tabloid newspaper use.

AIMS

This study aimed to investigate associations of time spent reading tabloids with endorsement of suicide myths, suicide-related knowledge, and with stigmatizing attitudes toward suicidal individuals.

METHOD

In this cross-sectional online survey, we assessed suicide-related knowledge and stigmatizing attitudes toward suicidal individuals among 456 study participants in Austria together with their endorsement of five common suicide myths (e.g., "suicidal individuals do not communicate their intent"). Furthermore, we assessed participants' time spent reading tabloids.

RESULTS

Multivariate analyses controlling for gender, age, education, and the time spent reading broadsheet newspapers and watching television indicated that participants' time spent reading tabloids was associated with higher endorsement of suicide myths as well as with a lower level of suicide-related knowledge and a higher level of stigmatizing attitudes toward suicidal individuals.

LIMITATIONS

Due to the study's cross-sectional design, causality concerning these associations could not be assessed.

CONCLUSION

The present findings confirm that readers of tabloids are an important target group for suicide education efforts.

Effects of Awareness Material on Suicide-Related Knowledge and the Intention to Provide Adequate Help to Suicidal Individuals

BACKGROUND

Little is known about the impact of educative media reports on the intention to provide help to suicidal individuals and on suicide-related knowledge.

AIMS

To test whether material debunking widely shared myths influences knowledge and the intention to provide adequate help to others, and if such information reduces reading enjoyment.

METHOD

A randomized controlled trial was utilized. Participants allocated to the intervention group were exposed to awareness material explicitly addressing suicide myths.

RESULTS

Analyses show that exposure to printed awareness material increased knowledge, which in turn positively influenced intentions to provide help. The inclusion of information regarding suicide myths did not reduce reading enjoyment.

LIMITATIONS

The awareness material used in this study only addressed two suicide myths that were considered to be especially important.

CONCLUSION

Information debunking suicide myths in suicide-related media reports is therefore both feasible and potentially helpful.

Self-reported suicidal behavior and attitudes toward suicide and suicide prevention among psychology students in Ghana, Uganda, and Norway

Self-reported suicidal behavior and attitudes toward suicide in psychology students are reported and compared in Ghana, Uganda, and Norway. Small differences only were found in own suicidal behavior. However, experience of suicidal behavior in the surroundings was more common in Uganda than in Ghana and Norway. Although differences were found between the three countries in attitudes toward suicide, which emphasizes the need for culture-sensitive research and prevention, many of the differences were not as big as expected. The most pronounced difference was that the Norwegian students were more reluctant to take a stand on these questions compared to their African counterparts. Some differences were also found between the two African countries. The implications of the results for suicide prevention in Africa are discussed.

The general public's views on suicide and suicide prevention, and their perception of participating in a study on attitudes towards suicide

The aim of the presented study was to investigate whether common myths about suicide still prevail, what people in general think are the most common causes for suicide, whether suicide can be prevented, and if so, how. How subjects perceived their participation in a study on attitudes towards suicidal behavior, was also investigated. The Attitudes Towards Suicide questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 1,000 Norwegians. The data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The results showed that the common myths still prevail, that people in general mainly assign intrapersonal causes to suicide, with the belief that suicide can be prevented, and that they perceived their participation in the study positively. The value of the general public in suicide prevention and the need for increased openness and competence building were emphasized.