Is the narrative the message? The relationship between suicide-related narratives in media reports and subsequent suicides.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

When journalists report on the details of a suicide, the way that they contextualize the meaning of the event (i.e. the 'narrative') can have significant consequences for readers. The 'Werther' and 'Papageno' narrative effects refer to increases and decreases in suicides across populations following media reports on suicidal acts or mastery of crises, respectively. The goal of this study was to investigate the impact of these different narrative constructs on subsequent suicides.

Methods

This study examined the change in suicide counts over time in Toronto, Canada. It used latent difference score analysis, examining suicide-related print media reports in the Toronto media market (2011-2014). Articles (N = 6367) were coded as having a potentially harmful nar

SUBMITTER: Hawley LL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10126449 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature