The association between suicide deaths and putatively harmful and protective factors in media reports
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Exposure to media reporting on suicide can lead to suicide contagion and, in some circumstances, may also lead to help-seeking behaviour. There is limited evidence for which specific characteristics of media reports mediate these phenomena. METHODS: This observational study examined associations between putatively harmful and protective elements of media reports about suicide in 13 major publications in the Toronto media market and subsequent suicide deaths in Toronto (2011-2014). We used multivariable logistic regression to determine whether specific article characteristics were associated with increases or decreases in suicide deaths in the 7 days after publication, compared with a control window. RESULTS: From 2011 to 2014, there were 6367 articles with suicide as the major focus and 947 suicide deaths. Elements most strongly and independently associated with increased suicides were a statement about the inevitability of suicide (odds ratio [OR] 1.97, confidence interval [CI] 1.07-3.62), about asphyxia by a method other than car exhaust (OR 1.72, CI 1.36-2.18), about suicide by jumping from a building (OR 1.70, CI 1.28-2.26) or about suicide pacts (OR 1.63, CI 1.14-2.35), or a headline that included the suicide method (OR 1.41, CI 1.07-1.86). Elements most strongly and independently associated with decreased suicides were unfavourable characteristics (negative judgments about the deceased; OR 1.85, CI 1.20-2.84), or mentions of railway (OR 1.61, CI 1.10-2.36) and cutting or stabbing (OR 1.59, CI 1.19-2.13) deaths, and individual murder-suicide (OR 1.50, CI 1.23-1.84). INTERPRETATION: This large study identified significant associations between several specific elements of media reports and suicide deaths. It suggests that reporting on suicide can have a meaningful impact on suicide deaths and that journalists and media outlets and organizations should carefully consider the specific content of reports before publication.
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Publicized suicides can lead to more people choosing suicide.
“We have long known that publicized suicides can lead to more people choosing suicide (Sinyor et al. 2018).”
From The realities of Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada (2023) · cites this paper as Sinyor et al. 2018
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Till, B., Braun, M., Gahbauer, S., Reisinger, N., Schwenzner, E., & Niederkrotenthaler, T. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.03.063 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationDefining harmful news reporting on community firearm violence: A modified Delphi consensus study
Beard, J. H., Eschliman, E. L., Wamakima, A., Morrison, C. N., MacMillan, J., & Midberry, J. (2024) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0316026 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Differences in Suicide-Related Twitter Content According to User Influence
Sinyor, M., Hartman, M., Zaheer, R., Williams, M., Pirkis, J., Heisel, M. J., Schaffer, A., Redelmeier, D. A., Cheung, A., Kiss, A., et al. (2022) · Crisis · doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000865 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationCanadian news media coverage of suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic
Whitley, R., & Antebi, L. (2023) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-023-02430-2 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
The Kenneth Law Media Event – A Dangerous Natural Experiment
Sinyor, M., Fraser, L., Reidenberg, D. J., YIP, P. S. F., & Niederkrotenthaler, T. (2024) · Crisis · doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000942 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationMedia coverage of Canadian Veterans, with a focus on post traumatic stress disorder and suicide
Whitley, R., & Saucier, A.-M. (2022) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-022-03954-8 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
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Estrategias de intervención y posvención del comportamiento suicida
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Ribeiro, E., & Granado, A. (2024) · International Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/09540261.2024.2327391 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Jardine, E., Cruz, S., & Kissel, H. D. (2022) · Crime Law and Social Change · doi:10.1007/s10611-022-10046-x · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Nigerian newspapers coverage of suicide: Assessment of adherence to WHO suicide reporting guidelines
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Calls to helplines in Australia following media reports of Robin Williams’ suicide
Pirkis, J., Currier, D., Too, L. S., Bryant, M., Bartlett, S., Sinyor, M., & Spittal, M. J. (2020) · Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior · doi:10.1111/sltb.12661 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationPürcher, P., Till, B., & Niederkrotenthaler, T. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1617602 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationHofstra, E., Bakker, M., Diepstraten, C. A. M., Elfeddali, I., Lucas, M. S., van Nieuwenhuizen, C., & Feltz-Cornelis, C. M. V. D. (2020) · Archives of Suicide Research · doi:10.1080/13811118.2020.1851833 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Metzler, H., Baginski, H., García, D., & Niederkrotenthaler, T. (2024) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0300917 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationIslam, M. R., & Moona, A. A. (2021) · Forensic Science International Mind and Law · doi:10.1016/j.fsiml.2021.100060 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Till, B., Arendt, F., Kirchner, S., Naderer, B., & Niederkrotenthaler, T. (2023) · Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior · doi:10.1111/sltb.13007 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationSinyor, M., Shin, S., Lee, J., Stack, S. J., Men, V. Y., & Niederkrotenthaler, T. (2025) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117934 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationSuicide prevention and media reporting: an evaluative study from Chandigarh
Sharma, N., Chauhan, N., Chavan, B. S., & Arun, P. (2021) · International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health · doi:10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20211221 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Suicide clustering and contagion: The role of the media
Benson, R., McTernan, N., Ryan, F., & Arensman, E. (2021) · Suicidologi/Nytt i suicidologi · doi:10.5617/suicidologi.9306 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Celebrity Suicides in China: How Social Media Shapes News Framing
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What the highest rated movie of all time may teach us about portraying suicide in film
Sinyor, M., Stack, S. J., & Niederkrotenthaler, T. (2019) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0004867419891247 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationWhat Do We Know About Firearms in Canada?: A Systematic Scoping Review
Ferguson, L., & Koziarski, J. (2019) · Scholarship@Western (Western University) · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Adherence to the WHO Guidelines on Suicide Reporting: A Content Analysis from Bengaluru, India
Vimala, L., Rathinam, B., Mendon, G. B., Bakka, A. K., Rani, A., Pandian, R. D., Loganathan, S., Rego, R., & Cherian, A. V. (2025) · Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry · doi:10.4103/ijsp.ijsp_318_23 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
‘Fair and balanced?’: quality of suicide-related reporting on major US cable news networks
Sinyor, M., Men, V. Y., Chan, P. P. M., Rain, S., Posel, A., Jayakumar, N., Mitchell, R. H. B., Schaffer, A., Steinberg, R. J., Pirkis, J., et al. (2025) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.2025.10309 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
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Young adult perspectives on media content related to suicide in South India: a qualitative study
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Engaging Television for Public Education and Counselling on Suicide: a Case Example from Ghana
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Peer Survivors of Suicide Loss: A Phenomenological Study
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“Breaking the Silence” Suicide Prevention Media Campaign in Oregon, April 7–14, 2019
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Self-citationResponsible reporting on suicide in Slovenia: Are we there yet?
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The role of mass media in suicide prevention
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Sjølvmord, smitte og 13 Reasons Why
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“Werther effect” – Media, a potential preventive tool for suicidal behaviour
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Suicidal behavior and the media
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Die Berichterstattung über Suizidalität in Deutschland
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Mediated Suicide in 13 Reasons Why: An Argument for Caution in Television Portrayals of Suicide
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Media Reporting About Sites Frequently Used for Suicide
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- Authors
- Sinyor, M., Schaffer, A., Nishikawa, Y., Redelmeier, D. A., Niederkrotenthaler, T., Sareen, J., Levitt, A. J., Kiss, A., & Pirkis, J.
- Affiliations
- Sunnybrook Health Science Centre (CA)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Canadian Medical Association Journal
- Publisher
- CMA Joule Inc.
- Published
- 2018-07-29
- Volume
- 190
- Issue
- 30
- Pages
- E900-E907
- ISSN
- 0820-3946 (ISSN-L)
- 1488-2329
- PMC
- PMC6066401
- OpenAlex
- W2883254067
- Cited by
- 108
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 14.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Canadian Medical Association Journal (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Media Influence and Health
- Keywords
- suicide contagion, suicide mortality, suicide pact, asphyxia, homicide-suicide, suicide prevention
- MeSH terms
- Suicide Prevention, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Mass Media, Middle Aged, Ontario, Suicide, Multivariate Analysis, Logistic Models, Age Distribution, Sex Distribution, Young Adult, Protective Factors
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