Association between suicide reporting in the media and suicide: Systematic review and meta-analysis
BMJ Mar 23, 2020
Niederkrotenthaler T, Braun, M, et al. - Researchers examined how reporting on suicides, particularly deaths of celebrities by suicide, associate to subsequent suicides in the general population via performing a systematic review and meta-analysis. Searching PubMed/Medline, PsychInfo, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar up to September 2019, they identified and analyzed 31 studies, and included 20 studies at moderate risk of bias in the main analyses. Outcomes revealed a meaningful impact of reporting of deaths of celebrities by suicide on total suicides in the general population. They observed an increase in the risk of suicide by 13% in the period following the media reported a death of a celebrity by suicide. Larger effect was observed for increases by the same method as used by the celebrity. General reporting of suicide seemed not to be linked with suicide although links for certain types of reporting cannot be excluded. The harmful effects of media reports could be best dealt at the population level with guidelines for responsible reporting. More wide implementation and promotion of these guidelines are emphasized especially when reporting on deaths of celebrities by suicide.
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