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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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“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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Metadata
- 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 › Communication › 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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