Dangerous Words? An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Detailed Reporting About Suicide on Subsequent Risk.
OBJECTIVE
Media reporting guidelines exist for suicide-related content; however, no experimental studies have examined the impact of guideline violations. As such, we utilized an experimental design to determine whether reading an article about suicide that violated guidelines would impact mood and suicidality relative to the same article without violations and to an article detailing death by cancer, both immediately and during 1-month follow-up.


METHODS
273 students were randomly assigned to read one of three articles (1) an article that violated suicide reporting guidelines, (2) the same article with violations removed, or (3) an article that details death by cancer.


RESULTS
Individuals assigned to read the original suicide article were no more upset immediately afterwards or during 1-month follow-up. Amongst participants with prior ideation, those who read the original article reported a lower likelihood of future attempt relative to either other condition.


CONCLUSIONS
Results indicate some reporting guidelines may be unnecessary. Amongst individuals at risk for suicide, some guideline violations may be associated with a decreased likelihood of future attempt and result in a decrease in negative affect. Clinically, these results highlight the potential utility of exposing clients to in depth educational materials about suicide while mitigating concerns regarding certain aspects of the content.
University of Southern Mississippi.
Michael D
MD
Anestis
University of Utah.|National Center for Veteran Studies.
Craig J
CJ
Bryan
University of British Columbia.
Alexis M
AM
May
University of Southern Mississippi.
Keyne C
KC
Law
Florida State University.
Christopher R
CR
Hagan
University of Utah.|National Center for Veteran Studies.
AnnaBelle O
AO
Bryan
Florida State University.
Carol
C
Chu
Florida State University.
Matthew S
MS
Michaels
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Edward A
EA
Selby
University of British Columbia.
E David
ED
Klonsky
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Thomas E
TE
Joiner
D000328:Adult; D003643:Death; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017408:Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media / Q000592:standards*; D011897:Random Allocation; D012306:Risk; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*
media; suicide