title: The werther effect of two celebrity suicides: an entertainer and a politician.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Suicide is a major health problem in Korea. Extensive media exposure of celebrity suicide may induce imitative suicide, a phenomenon called the Werther effect. We examined the increased suicide risk following the suicides of an entertainer and a politician, and identified the relative suicide risks.
  
  
  METHODS
  News articles about the celebrity suicides were obtained from three major newspapers and analysed for quantitative and qualitative features. Imitative suicide risk was investigated by applying a Poisson time series autoregression model with suicide mortality data from the National Statistics Office for 1.5 years before and 1.5 years after each celebrity's suicide. The period with a significantly increased number of suicides immediately after the celebrity's suicide determined the Werther effect band. The relative risk during this period was examined for different ages, genders, and suicide methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  News reports were more numerous and they contained more positive definitions about the entertainer's suicide. The risk of suicide deaths rose markedly after both celebrity suicides. However, the Werther effect band was longer for the entertainer (6 weeks) than for the politician (4 weeks). The relative suicide risk was significant for almost all ages and both genders during that of both individuals. Use of the same suicide method was a prominent risk factor after both celebrity suicides.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results confirm the existence of imitative suicide behaviours, suggesting a facilitation effect of media reports. Guidelines for responsible media reporting need to be implemented to enhance public mental health in Korea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea ; Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea ; Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Eun-Cheol
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Mo
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sohee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jaelim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea ; Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sun-Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea ; Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Eun
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008602:Mental Healing; D008954:Models, Biological; D009524:Newspapers as Topic; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors