Citation

Kasahara-Kiritani M, Hadlaczky G, Westerlund M, Carli V, Wasserman C, Apter A, Balazs J, Bobes J, Brunner R, McMahon EM, Cosman D, Farkas L, Haring C, Kaess M, Kahn JP, Keeley H, Nemes B, Mars Bitenc U, Postuvan V, Saiz P, Sisask M, Värnik A, Sarchiapone M, Hoven CW, Wasserman D. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2015; 12(12): 15937-15942.

Affiliation

National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden. Danuta.Wasserman@ki.se.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph121215032

PMID

26694431

Abstract

Reading books and watching films were investigated as protective factors for serious suicidal ideation (SSI) in young people with low perceived social belonging. Cross-sectional and longitudinal (12-month) analyses were performed using data from a representative European sample of 3256 students from the "Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe" study. Low social belonging was associated to SSI. However, reading books and watching films moderated this association, especially for those with lowest levels of belonging. This was true both at baseline and at 12 months of follow-up analyses. These media may act as sources of social support or mental health literacy and thus reduce the suicide risk constituted by low sense of belonging.

Language: en