Citation

Lee J, Lee WY, Hwang JS, Stack SJ. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2014; 44(4): 457-472.

Affiliation

Department of Preventive Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/sltb.12109

PMID

25041623

Abstract

This study investigated the nature of media coverage of a national entertainer's suicide and its impact on subsequent suicides. After the celebrity suicide, the number of suicide-related articles reported surged around 80 times in the week after the suicide compared with the week prior. Many articles (37.1%) violated several critical items on the World Health Organization suicide reporting guidelines, like containing a detailed suicide method. Most gender and age subgroups were at significantly higher risk of suicide during the 4 weeks after the celebrity suicide.

RESULTS imply that massive and noncompliant media coverage of a celebrity suicide can cause a large-scale copycat effect.

Language: en