Suicide contagion: a systematic review of definitions and research utility.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Despite the common use of contagion to analogize the spread of suicide, there is a lack of rigorous assessment of the underlying concept or theory supporting the use of this term. The present study aims to examine the varied definitions and potential utility of the term contagion in suicide-related research.

Methods

100 initial records and 240 reference records in English were identified as relevant with our research objectives, through systematic literature screening. We then conducted narrative syntheses of various definitions and assessed their potential value for generating new research.

Results

20.3% of the 340 records used contagion as equivalent to clustering (contagion-as-cluster); 68.5% used it to refer to various, often related mechanisms underlyi

SUBMITTER: Cheng Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4178222 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature