title: Associations between film preferences and risk factors for suicide: an online survey.
abstract: Several studies indicate that exposure to suicide in movies is linked to subsequent imitative suicidal behavior, so-called copycat suicides, but little is currently known about whether the link between exposure to suicidal movies and suicidality is reflected in individual film preferences. 943 individuals participated in an online survey. We assessed associations between preferred film genres as well as individual exposure to and rating of 50 pre-selected films (including 25 featuring a suicide) with suicidal ideation, hopelessness, depression, life satisfaction, and psychoticism. Multiple regression analyses showed that preferences for film noir movies and milieu dramas were associated with higher scores on suicidal ideation, depression and psychoticism, and low scores on life satisfaction. Furthermore, preferences for thrillers and horror movies as well as preferences for tragicomedies, tragedies and melodramas were associated with higher scores of some of the suicide risk factors. There was also a dose-response relationship between positive rating of suicide films and higher life satisfaction. Due to the cross-sectional design of the study causality cannot be assessed. Individual film genre preferences seem to reflect risk factors of suicide, with film genres focusing on sad contents being preferred by individuals with higher scores on suicide risk factors. However, suicide movies are more enjoyed by viewers with higher life satisfaction, which may reflect a better ability to cope with such content.
authors.affiliation: Suicide Research Unit, Institute of Social Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Benedikt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Till
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, School of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Ulrich S
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, School of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Georg Elias Müller Department of Psychology, Georg August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Voracek
authors.affiliation: Crisis Intervention Center and Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Social Psychiatry, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Gernot
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sonneck
authors.affiliation: Suicide Research Unit, Institute of Social Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niederkrotenthaler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003625:Data Collection; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D009040:Motion Pictures; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*