Dangerous Words? An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Detailed Reporting About Suicide on Subsequent Risk

Anestis, Michael D.; Bryan, Craig J.; May, Alexis M.; Law, Keyne C.; Hagan, Christopher R.; Chu, Carol; Michaels, Matthew S.; Selby, Edward A.; Klonsky, E. David; Joiner, Thomas E.

doi:10.1002/jclp.22199

Cited by 8 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…WHO [ 28 ] has emphasized the responsible media reporting of suicide prevention efforts. Reporting facts of accidents with information on how to obtain psychosocial support if needed (e.g., crisis hotlines), without emphasizing details provoking strong negative emotions, is considered responsible media coverage of suicides [ 28 , 33 ], but the need of guidance has also been questioned [ 34 ]. These principles seem to have been partly challenged in the reporting of the Germanwings accident [ 35 ] with the murder component being more strongly emphasized.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Copycats in Pilot Aircraft-Assisted Suicides after the Germanwings Incident

Laukkala¹,

Vuorio

Bor

et al. 2018

IJERPH

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Aircraft-assisted pilot suicide is a rare but serious phenomenon. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in pilot aircraft-assisted suicide risks, i.e., a copycat effect, in the U.S. and Germany after the Germanwings 2015 incident in the French Alps. Aircraft-assisted pilot suicides were searched in the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident investigation database and in the German Bundestelle für Flugunfalluntersuchung (BFU) Reports of Investigation database five years before and two years after the deliberate crash of the Germanwings flight into the French Alps in 2015. The relative risk (RR) of the aircraft-assisted pilot suicides was calculated. Two years after the incident, three out of 454 (0.66%) fatal incidents were aircraft-assisted suicides compared with six out of 1292 (0.46%) in the prior five years in the NTSB database. There were no aircraft-assisted pilot suicides in the German database during the two years after or five years prior to the Germanwings crash. The relative aircraft-assisted pilot suicide risk for the U.S. was 1.4 (95% CI 0.3–4.2) which was not statistically significant. Six of the pilots who died by suicide had told someone of their suicidal intentions. We consider changes in the rate to be within a normal variation. Responsible media coverage of aircraft incidents is important due to the large amount of publicity that these events attract.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Copycats in Pilot Aircraft-Assisted Suicides after the Germanwings Incident

Laukkala¹,

Vuorio

Bor

et al. 2018

IJERPH

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“…Additionally, given the findings of Anestis et al. (), we did not anticipate group differences on risk factors for suicidal desire (i.e., thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, depression) or for suicide ideation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 87%

“…This particular media guideline was not investigated in the Anestis et al. () study; as such, our study is the first to examine whether following it has a positive impact on a variety of outcomes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To our knowledge, only one study has experimentally evaluated the effects of exposure to a suicide‐related news article (Anestis, May, Hagan, Michaels, & Klonsky, ), although previous researchers have evaluated the impact of other types of media (e.g., film) depicting suicide (e.g., Till, Strauss, Sonneck, & Niederkrotenthaler, ; Till et al., ). Anestis et al.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anestis et al. () evaluated the effects of reading an article that described a particular suicide in detail, which violated some of the media guidelines, compared to reading the same article with the violations removed, and an article that described a cancer death. The authors found that reading the cancer article resulted in more distress (i.e., negative affect as measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, ) compared to reading both versions of the suicide article.…”

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confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Media Reporting on Suicide: Evaluating the Effects of Including Preventative Resources and Psychoeducational Information on Suicide Risk, Attitudes, Knowledge, and Help‐Seeking Behaviors

Williams

Witte

2017

Suicide & Life Threat Behav

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We evaluated the effects of exposure to a suicide news article on a variety of outcome variables and whether adhering to one specific media guideline (i.e., including psychoeducational information and preventative resources) buffered any of the negative effects of exposure. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of three articles and then asked to complete a battery of self-report questionnaires. Overall, we found no effect of exposure to a suicide news article, regardless of the inclusion of resources and information, with a few minor exceptions. Although researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of media guidelines in the aggregate at reducing imitative suicidal behavior, it remains unclear which guidelines in particular are responsible for this effect.

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Detecting Changes in Newspaper Reporting of Suicide after a Statewide Social Marketing Campaign

Abbott

Ramchand

Chamberlin

et al. 2017

Health Communication

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A social marketing campaign was introduced in California in 2012, promoting media adherence to consensus-based guidelines on reporting about suicide. We examine adherence to these guidelines by applying quantitative scores to articles in California and a national control group in two six-month intervals prior to and following campaign implementation. Utilizing a difference-in-difference approach, we found no significant effect of the campaign, though the type of article content was a significant indicator of the overall score. Findings also demonstrated a nation-wide downward trend in the quality of reporting. Qualitative results suggest a need for more flexible guidelines in light of a technologically driven news culture.

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Dangerous Words? An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Detailed Reporting About Suicide on Subsequent Risk

Cited by 8 publications

References 20 publications

Copycats in Pilot Aircraft-Assisted Suicides after the Germanwings Incident

Copycats in Pilot Aircraft-Assisted Suicides after the Germanwings Incident

Media Reporting on Suicide: Evaluating the Effects of Including Preventative Resources and Psychoeducational Information on Suicide Risk, Attitudes, Knowledge, and Help‐Seeking Behaviors

Detecting Changes in Newspaper Reporting of Suicide after a Statewide Social Marketing Campaign

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