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Suicidal Disclosures among Friends: Using Social Network Data to Understand Suicide Contagion
Open accessAbstract
A robust literature suggests that suicide is socially contagious; however, we know little about how and why suicide spreads. Using network data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we examine the effects of alter's (1) disclosed and (2) undisclosed suicide attempts, (3) suicide ideation, and (4) emotional distress on ego's mental health one year later to gain insights into the emotional and cultural mechanisms that underlie suicide contagion. We find that when egos know about alter's suicide attempt, they report significantly higher levels of emotional distress and are more likely to report suicidality, net of extensive controls; however, alter's undisclosed suicide attempts and ideation have no significant effect on ego's mental health. Finally, we find evidence that emotional distress is contagious in adolescence, though it does not seem to promote suicidality. We discuss the implications of our findings for suicide contagion specifically and sociology more generally.
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“Additionally, exposure to a friends’ suicidal thoughts was not sufficient to increase risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviors 1 year later.”
From The Social Roots of Suicide: Theorizing How the External Social World Matters to Suicide and Suicide Prevention (2021) · cites this paper as Mueller and Abrutyn, 2015
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“The study found that youth who did not know their friend had attempted suicide were not at higher risk of suicidality over time, though if they did know they were.”
From The Social Roots of Suicide: Theorizing How the External Social World Matters to Suicide and Suicide Prevention (2021) · cites this paper as Mueller and Abrutyn, 2015
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“Previous research also suggests suicidal behaviors are influenced by affiliation with peers who have engaged in suicidal behaviors,29”
From Evidence-based youth suicide prevention and intervention in pediatric primary care settings. (2024) · cites this paper as [29]
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mueller, A. S., Abrutyn, S., Pescosolido, B., & Diefendorf, S. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.621569 · Cited by 216
“…et al., 2006; Gould et al., 2014)– especially celebrity suicides – or (2) personal role models, like parents or friends (Abrutyn and Mueller, 2014a; Mueller and Abrutyn, 2015; Mueller et al., 2015a; Randall et al., 2015; Fletcher, 2017; Myfanwy et al., 2017), is associated with increased risk…”
BackgroundMueller, A. S., & Abrutyn, S. (2016) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122416663464 · Cited by 132
“…which acknowledges that highly integrated networks facilitate the diffusion of innovations, attitudes, and behaviors (including suicidality) (Baller and Richardson 2009; Bearman and Moody 2004; Burt 1987; Moody and White 2003; Mueller and Abrutyn 2015; Mueller, Abrutyn, and Stockton 2015).”
BackgroundSelf-citationBenefits and risks of suicide disclosure
Sheehan, L. L., Oexle, N., Armas, S. A., Wan, H. T., Bushman, M., Glover, L., & Lewy, S. A. (2019) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.01.023 · Cited by 142
#MyDepressionLooksLike: Examining Public Discourse About Depression on Twitter
Lachmar, E. M., Wittenborn, A. K., Bogen, K. W., & McCauley, H. L. (2017) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/mental.8141 · Cited by 116
“This is particularly important because of the evidence of suicide contagion, in which watching or hearing about suicide increases the likelihood of others engaging in suicidal behaviors [57,58].”
Rayland, A., & Andrews, J. A. (2023) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/41855 · Cited by 109
Metadata
- Authors
- Mueller, A. S., & Abrutyn, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Memphis (US)
- Corresponding author
- Mueller, Anna S.
- Venue
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2015-02-25
- Volume
- 56
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 131-148
- ISSN
- 0022-1465 (ISSN-L)
- 2150-6000
- PMC
- PMC4472458
- OpenAlex
- W2157573144
- Cited by
- 132
- References
- 86
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 41 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 9.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Michigan State University
- National Institutes of Health
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P01- HD31921, P01HD031921)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health via Writing
- Keywords
- suicide contagion, suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, emotional distress, mental health, adolescent social networks, disclosure, social networks, adolescent to adult transition
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Peer Group, Risk Factors, Social Support, Suicide, Disclosure, Suicidal Ideation
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