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CMAJ

The association between suicide deaths and putatively harmful and protective factors in media reports

Overview of attention for article published in Canadian Medical Association Journal, July 2018
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (98th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
29 news outlets
blogs
3 blogs
twitter
162 X users
facebook
3 Facebook pages
googleplus
1 Google+ user

Citations

dimensions_citation
68 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
125 Mendeley
Title
The association between suicide deaths and putatively harmful and protective factors in media reports
Published in
Canadian Medical Association Journal, July 2018
DOI 10.1503/cmaj.170698
Pubmed ID
Authors

Mark Sinyor, Ayal Schaffer, Yasunori Nishikawa, Donald A Redelmeier, Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, Jitender Sareen, Anthony J Levitt, Alex Kiss, Jane Pirkis

Abstract

Exposure to media reporting on suicide can lead to suicide contagion and, in some circumstances, may also lead to help-seeking behaviour. There is limited evidence for which specific characteristics of media reports mediate these phenomena. This observational study examined associations between putatively harmful and protective elements of media reports about suicide in 13 major publications in the Toronto media market and subsequent suicide deaths in Toronto (2011-2014). We used multivariable logistic regression to determine whether specific article characteristics were associated with increases or decreases in suicide deaths in the 7 days after publication, compared with a control window. From 2011 to 2014, there were 6367 articles with suicide as the major focus and 947 suicide deaths. Elements most strongly and independently associated with increased suicides were a statement about the inevitability of suicide (odds ratio [OR] 1.97, confidence interval [CI] 1.07-3.62), about asphyxia by a method other than car exhaust (OR 1.72, CI 1.36-2.18), about suicide by jumping from a building (OR 1.70, CI 1.28-2.26) or about suicide pacts (OR 1.63, CI 1.14-2.35), or a headline that included the suicide method (OR 1.41, CI 1.07-1.86). Elements most strongly and independently associated with decreased suicides were unfavourable characteristics (negative judgments about the deceased; OR 1.85, CI 1.20-2.84), or mentions of railway (OR 1.61, CI 1.10-2.36) and cutting or stabbing (OR 1.59, CI 1.19-2.13) deaths, and individual murder-suicide (OR 1.50, CI 1.23-1.84). This large study identified significant associations between several specific elements of media reports and suicide deaths. It suggests that reporting on suicide can have a meaningful impact on suicide deaths and that journalists and media outlets and organizations should carefully consider the specific content of reports before publication.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 162 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 125 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 125 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 18 14%
Researcher 15 12%
Student > Master 10 8%
Other 7 6%
Student > Doctoral Student 6 5%
Other 21 17%
Unknown 48 38%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 22 18%
Psychology 19 15%
Nursing and Health Professions 11 9%
Social Sciences 9 7%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 2 2%
Other 12 10%
Unknown 50 40%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 344. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 March 2023.
All research outputs
#95,618
of 25,515,042 outputs
Outputs from Canadian Medical Association Journal
#173
of 9,488 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#1,940
of 341,527 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Canadian Medical Association Journal
#3
of 122 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,515,042 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 9,488 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 34.2. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 341,527 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 122 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.