The Role of Mass Media in Suicide Prevention

Schmidtke, Armin; Schaller, Sylvia

doi:10.1002/9780470698976.ch39

Cited by 59 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Our findings also show that extensive research supporting an imitative effect of suicide reports in the media 11,[78][79][80] does not apply to screening survey questions. Furthermore, the evidence that previous suicidal behavior may enhance the imitative effect of media reports 81,82 cannot be extrapolated to suicide-screening surveys.…”

Section: Commentmentioning

confidence: 65%

Evaluating Iatrogenic Risk of Youth Suicide Screening Programs

Gould

Marrocco²,

Kleinman

et al. 2005

JAMA

441

337

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HE PRESIDENT'S NEW FREEdom Commission 1 and the Children's Mental Health Screening and Prevention Act 2 recommend increased screening for suicidality and mental illness. The recent enactment of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act 3 further supports the development of youth suicide prevention and intervention programs. Despite the proliferation of screening programs in recent years (eg, Signs of Suicide, 4 Teen-Screen 5 ), the current debate about possible iatrogenic effects of other suicide preventive interventions, 6,7 and the belief that prevention programs may "spur troubled youngsters to try suicide," 8 the potential harm of screening for suicide remains unstudied. 9,10 Screening strategies are based on the valid premise that suicidal adolescents are underidentified [11][12][13][14][15] ; have an active, often treatable, mental illness [16][17][18] ; and exhibit identifiable risk factors. 11 Evidence for the clinical validity and reliability of school-based screening procedures has recently emerged. Use of the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (SIQ) in a midwestern US high school yielded a sensitivity ranging from 83% to 100%, with specificity from 49% to 70%. 19 The Suicide Risk Screen's use among 581 students in 7 high schools had a sensitivity ranging from 87% to 100%, with specificity from 54% to 60%. 20 Among 2004 teenagers from 8 New York metropoli-

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Section: Commentmentioning

confidence: 65%

Evaluating Iatrogenic Risk of Youth Suicide Screening Programs

Gould

Marrocco²,

Kleinman

et al. 2005

JAMA

441

337

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This finding might be counter-intuitive at first glance, as the AD tends to attract young readers (ie, 50% are younger than 30 years old), the age group that is thought to be most vulnerable to a media copycat effect 30. However, it should be noted that prior studies that found a stronger copycat effect among youth were mostly derived from studies of celebrity suicides.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The impact of media reporting of suicide on actual suicides in Taiwan, 2002-05

Yip

Chen

2010

Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health

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“…This type of focusing on suicide may initiate “copycat” acts among peers or in those who identify with the victim (16). This form of imitation has also been reported to be method‐specific (17,18), with cases often occurring within a geographic and timely proximity to one another. Another factor that has been reported in teenagers is the association of depression with excessive Internet usage (19).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Cluster Hanging Suicides in the Young in South Australia

Austin

Heuvel

Byard

2011

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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Retrospective review of hanging suicides in individuals aged ≤ 17 years was undertaken at Forensic Science South Australia, Australia, over two 5-year periods: 1995-1999 and 2005-2009. Seven cases of hanging suicides were identified from 1995 to 1999, with a further 14 cases from 2005 to 2009, an increase of 100% (p < 0.001). Hanging accounted for 33.3% of all suicides in this age group (7/21) from 1995 to 1999, compared with 93.3% of the total number of suicides (14/15) in the second 5-year period. In contrast, Australian national data from 1998 and 2008 showed a 30% decrease in hanging suicides in the young, from one case/100,000 population in 1998 to 0.7 in 2008. Cluster suicides occur in the young and are often initiated by direct communication. As it is possible that Internet-based social sites may facilitate this phenomenon, investigations should include an evaluation of the victim's Internet access given the potential risk of similar actions by peers.

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The Role of Mass Media in Suicide Prevention

Cited by 59 publications

References 73 publications

Evaluating Iatrogenic Risk of Youth Suicide Screening Programs

Evaluating Iatrogenic Risk of Youth Suicide Screening Programs

The impact of media reporting of suicide on actual suicides in Taiwan, 2002-05

Cluster Hanging Suicides in the Young in South Australia

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