Table 1.
Studies about the roles of media in suicide prevention: country of origin, article type, suicidality-related outcome measure and main findings.
| SOURCE | COUNTRY | ARTICLE TYPE | OUTCOME MEASURE | MAIN FINDINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motto 1967 [20] | USA | Research | Suicides | No significant change was revealed in suicide rates after newspaper reporting on suicidal behaviour |
| Motto 1970 [21] | USA | Research | Suicides | The newspaper blackout was accompanied by a significant lowering of the suicide rate in females, especially in age group 35 |
| Phillips 1977 [22] | USA | Research | Motor vehicle fatalities | Automobile accident fatalities rose after publicized suicide stories |
| Phillips 1979 [23] | USA | Research | Motor vehicle fatalities | Motor vehicle fatalities (especially single-vehicle crashes) increased markedly just after publicized suicide stories |
| Ashton & Donnan 1981 [24] | UK | Research | Suicides by burning | Widely publicized political suicide was followed by an epidemic of copycat suicides by burning |
| Bollen & Phillips 1982 [25] | USA | Research | Suicides | Suicides increased shortly after a publicized suicide story |
| Stack 1983 [26] | USA | Research | Suicides | No relationship was found between the highly publicized mass suicide of a religious sect and national suicide rate |
| Wasserman 1984 [27] | USA | Research | Suicides | No significant linkage was found between the national suicide rate and stories on prominent suicides on the front page of a newspaper |
| Kessler et al. 1988 [28] | USA | Research | Suicides in teenagers | No significant association between newscasts about suicide and subsequent teenage suicides was observed |
| Stack 1988 [29] | USA | Research | Suicides | Publicized suicide stories during the World War I decade had no impact on suicide; peacetime suicide stories, in contrast, had significant impact |
| Kessler et al. 1989 [30] | USA | Research | Suicides | No reliable association between network news stories and suicide among adults, but significant association among teenagers existed for a specific time period |
| Stack 1990 [31] | USA | Research | Suicides in elderly | Months with publicized suicide stories were found to have additional elderly suicides (both male and female) |
| Stack 1990 [32] | USA | Research | Suicides | Stories with a victim with marital problem, such as divorce, are significantly associated with increases in suicide rates |
| Stack 1990 [33] | USA | Research | Suicides | Suicides of non-celebrities were associated with increase in national suicide rate, although the association was weaker than for celebrity suicide stories |
| Ishii 1991 [34] | Japan | Research | Suicides | Mass media has a strong increasing effect on suicides |
| Etzersdorfer et al. 1992 [35] | Austria | Research | Subway suicides and suicide attempts | After changing the quality of media reporting the number of suicides and suicide attempts in subway decreased |
| Stack 1992 [36] | USA | Research | Suicides | Publicized stories concerning political leaders' suicides were associated with subsequent suicides, for others there is little supporting evidence |
| Stack 1993 [37] | USA | Research | Suicides | Media coverage of suicide stories influences suicides independent of economic conditions |
| Sonneck et al. 1994 [38] | Austria | Research | Subway suicides and suicide attempts | Subway suicides and suicide attempts increased after dramatic media reporting, but decreased markedly after implementation of media guidelines |
| Hassan 1995 [39] | Australia | Research | Suicides | Suicide rates increased significantly after the publication of suicide stories in media |
| Jobes et al. 1996 [40] | USA | Research | Suicides and suicide crisis calls | After celebrity suicide the expected Werther effect did not appear, but suicide crisis calls increased significantly |
| Stack 1996 [41] | Japan | Research | Suicides | There is a media-suicide linkage similar in magnitude to that reported in the USA, but imitative effect is restricted to stories about Japanese suicides |
| Etzersdorfer & Sonneck 1998 [42] | Austria | Research | Subway suicides and suicide attempts | Number of subway suicides and suicide attempts dropped after media guidelines were developed and media campaign launched |
| Stack 2000 [43] | Several | Meta-Analysis | Suicides | The greater the amount of media coverage on suicide the greater the increase in suicide rate, especially if celebrity suicides and non-fictional stories were reported in newspapers |
| Chung & Leung 2001 [44] | Hong Kong | Research | Suicides by charcoal burning | Charcoal burning suicides became more prevalent because it was highly publicized |
| Etzersdorfer et al. 2001 [45] | Austria | Research | Suicides | The overall number of suicides increased slightly, but suicides by firearm significantly after news of celebrity suicide by gun were reported |
| Pirkis & Blood 2001 [46] | Several | Systematic review | Actual suicidal behaviour | There is an association between suicidal behaviour and media reporting, which satisfies sufficient of the criteria to be deemed causal |
| Stack 2002 [47] | Several | Meta-Analysis | Suicides | The greater the amount of media coverage on suicide the greater the increase in suicide rate, especially if celebrity suicides and non-fictional stories were reported in newspapers |
| Stack 2003 [48] | Several | Meta-Analysis | Suicides | The greater the amount of media coverage on suicide the greater the increase in suicide rate, especially if celebrity suicides and non-fictional stories were reported in newspapers |
| Etzersdorfer et al. 2004 [49] | Austria | Research | Suicides by firearm | The number of suicides by firearm increased after the reporting of celebrity suicide by gun |
| Hittner 2005 [50] | USA | Research | Suicides | A re-analysis of two classic research articles on media influence provided only partial support for the Werther effect |
| Mann et al. 2005 [1] | Several | Systematic review | Suicides | Media blackouts on reporting suicide have coincided with decrease in suicide rates, but no published studies have evaluated the impact of establishing media guidelines |
| Reisch & Michel 2005 [51] | Switzerland | Research | Suicides by jumping | The data suggest a regional increased popularity of the suicide method (jumping) in the period of high media attention |
| Shoval et al. 2005 [52] | Israel | Research | Suicides | Reported televising of a promo for a documentary on suicide may raise the risk of suicide in vulnerable population, especially the use of particular method (jumping) |
| Stack 2005 [53] | Several | Meta-Analysis | Suicides | Copycat effect was more likely reported for celebrity suicides and female suicides and less likely if studies were based on television stories and stressed negative definitions of suicide |
| Sudak & Sudak 2005 [54] | Several | Systematic review | Suicides | The number of suicides increased, if the media romanticized and dramatized the description of suicidal deaths |
| Tousignant et al. 2005 [55] | Canada | Research | Suicides | A celebrity's suicide was instrumental for a number of suicide in the period immediately following the event, although the size of the effect remains unknown |
| Pirkis et al. 2006 [56] | Australia | Research | Suicides | There may be an association between the quantity of media items and the number of subsequent suicides |
| Romer et al. 2006 [57] | USA | Research | Suicides | The results confirm the effect of media-induced suicide contagion |
| Yip et al. 2006 [58] | Hong Kong | Research | Suicides | There was a significant increase in suicides following the celebrity death, particularly in a subgroup of males aged 25-39 years, many of whom died by jumping |
| Cheng et al. 2007 [59] | Taiwan | Research | Suicidal behaviours (thoughts, attempts) | Strong association was found between inappropriate media reporting of celebrity suicide and subsequent suicidal behaviour (thoughts attempts) in depressed patients |
| Cheng et al. 2007 [60] | Taiwan | Research | Suicide attempts | Number of suicide attempts increased markedly and identification was self-reported after media reporting began |
| Cheng et al. 2007 [61] | Taiwan | Research | Suicides | Number of suicides increased markedly and strong modelling effect (sex, method) occurred after media reporting |
| Fu & Yip 2007 [62] | Hong Kong | Research | Suicidal ideation | Celebrity suicide had long-term effect on suicidal ideation (suicidal thoughts in community), both in vulnerable and non-vulnerable persons |
| Hagihara et al. 2007 [63] | Japan | Research | Suicides | Newspaper articles about suicide were a predictor of suicide for both male and female subjects |
| Niederkrotenthaler & Sonneck 2007 [10] | Austria | Research | Suicides and subway suicides | The media guidelines had an impact on the quality of media reporting and on suicidal behaviour (both overall suicides and subway suicides) |
| Fu et al. 2009 [64] | Hong Kong | Research | Suicidal ideation | Individual level self-reported data showed positive association between media influences (stimulus) and suicidal ideation (response) |
| Fu & Yip 2009 [65] | Asian regions | Meta-Analysis | Suicides | Risk of suicide was elevated after extensive media coverage of celebrity suicides |
| Huh et al. 2009 [66] | Korea | Research | Suicides | Reporting of unusual accidental deaths and specific suicide methods (charcoal burning) may lead younger people to imitative suicidal acts |
| Niederkrotenthaler et al. 2009 [67] | Austria | Research | Suicides | Copycat effects was associated with social status (celebrity) of the reported suicides and reporting characteristics were associated with a post-report increase in similar suicides |
| Chen et al. 2010 [68] | Taiwan | Research | Suicides | Significant increase in suicides (especially among individuals of the same gender and similar age) following extensive media reporting of a celebrity suicide by charcoal burning |
| Chen et al. 2010 [69] | Taiwan | Research | Suicide attempts | Major self-reported identification occurred in respondents who attempted suicide by using the same method as a celebrity (charcoal burning) |
| Chen et al. 2011 [70] | Taiwan | Research | Suicides | Increase in the intensity of suicide news reporting increased the actual number of suicides |
| Kunrath et al. 2010 [71] | Germany | Research | Railway suicides | Number of railway suicides increased significantly after non-fictional media coverage of a fatal railway accident |
| Niederkrotenthaler et al. 2010 [72] | Austria | Research | Suicides | Coverage on positive coping in adverse circumstances as covered in media items about suicidal ideation may have protective effect and decrease suicide rates |
| Queinec et al. 2011 [73] | France | Research | Suicides | Some celebrity suicides stories were followed by increase in suicides, some were not |