title: Belief in a Werther Effect: third-person effects in the perceptions of suicide risk for others and the moderating role of depression.
abstract: Werther Effect research has almost solely focused on the behavioral level of media effects. Clinically relevant predispositions like depression as well as the moderating role of media effects on a perceptional level have been omitted so far. To bridge this gap, we reanalyzed the data of an experiment conducted by Rustad, Small, Jobes, Safer, and Peterson: volunteer students' ratings for their self-risk of depression and suicide as well as their perceptions of others' suicide risk were investigated. While a Werther Effect could not be observed, there is a general overestimation of media influences on others--presumed Werther Effects--that are moderated by the personal degree of depression.
authors: Department of Communication Science and Media Research, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany. scherr@ifkw.lmu.de
authors: Sebastian
authors: S
authors: Scherr
authors: Carsten
authors: C
authors: Reinemann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003863:Depression; D003866:Depressive Disorder; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior; D013334:Students; D013405:Suicide; D055815:Young Adult