Associations of suicide-related media reporting characteristics with help-seeking and suicide in Oregon and Washington

Abstract

Objective: Specific content characteristics of suicide media reporting might differentially impact suicides in the population, but studies have not considered the overarching theme of the respective media stories and other relevant outcomes besides suicide, such as help-seeking behaviours. Methods: We obtained 5652 media reports related to suicide from 6 print, 44 broadcast and 251 online sources in Oregon and Washington states, published between April 2019 and March 2020. We conducted a content analysis of stories regarding their overarching focus and specific content characteristics based on media recommendations for suicide reporting. We applied logistic regression analyses to assess how focus and content characteristics were associated with subsequent calls to the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) and suicides in these two states in the week after publication compared to a control time period. Results: Compared to a focus on suicide death, a focus on suicidal ideation, suicide prevention, healing stories, community suicide crises/suicide clusters and homicide suicide was associated with more calls. As compared to a focus on suicide death, stories on suicide prevention and stories on community suicide crises/suicide clusters were also associated with no increase in suicides. Regarding specific content characteristics, there were associations that were largely consistent with previous work in the area, for example, an association of celebrity suicide reporting with increases in suicide. Conclusion: The overall focus of a media story may influence help-seeking and suicides, and several story characteristics appear to be related to both outcomes. More research is needed to investigate possible causal effects and pathways.

Associations of Suicide Referents With Different Moral Connotation With Actual Suicides

“…A reason why the present analysis did not reveal any associations of framings with suicides in the subsequent month might be that we did not collect any information on the content of media items beyond the suicide referent used. Recent studies clearly highlight that not all media stories have the same effect (Niederkrotenthaler et al, 2010, 2021, 2023; Niederkrotenthaler, Till, et al, 2022; Pirkis et al, 2006). The overall narrative of a story in terms of a focus on prevention versus suicide death appears to be key in many findings on media effects (Hawley et al, 2023; Niederkrotenthaler et al, 2023).…”

“…Recent studies clearly highlight that not all media stories have the same effect (Niederkrotenthaler et al, 2010, 2021, 2023; Niederkrotenthaler, Till, et al, 2022; Pirkis et al, 2006). The overall narrative of a story in terms of a focus on prevention versus suicide death appears to be key in many findings on media effects (Hawley et al, 2023; Niederkrotenthaler et al, 2023).…”

“Breaking the Silence” Suicide Prevention Media Campaign in Oregon, April 7–14, 2019

“…We retrieved 628 media items for Oregon and Washington for April 2019 as part of a larger dataset (Niederkrotenthaler, Laido et al, 2022). These reports form the basis of the present analysis.…”

“Breaking the silence” suicide Prevention media campaign in Oregon: Evaluation of impact on help‐seeking and suicide mortality

“…An evaluation complementary to the current study examined the content of all media stories with a major focus on suicide published in Oregon and Washington states in April 2019, and compared the 104 stories generated by the Breaking the Silence campaign to 511 media stories not related to the campaign (Niederkrotenthaler et al., n.d.). The number of suicide‐related media items published in Oregon that month was markedly elevated above the monthly average, while the number in Washington State remained average.…”