title: Can media effects counteract legislation reforms? The case of adolescent firearm suicides in the wake of the Austrian firearm legislation.
abstract: To assess the impact of the Austrian firearm legislation (1997) on adolescent suicides, we investigated time trends in youth suicide prevalence (1986-2006) with Poisson regression. A temporary increase in firearm suicides after the reform was observed, followed by a continuous decrease. The hypothesis that media reporting triggered the short-term backlash effect is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. thomas.niederkrotenthaler@meduniwien.ac.at
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niederkrotenthaler
authors.forename: Benedikt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Till
authors.forename: Arno
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Herberth
authors.forename: Nestor D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Kapusta
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Voracek
authors.forename: Kanita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dervic
authors.forename: Elmar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Etzersdorfer
authors.forename: Gernot
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sonneck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D005389:Firearms / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D008402:Mass Media; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D055815:Young Adult