TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2004//
TI  - A dose-response relationship between imitational suicides and newspaper distribution
JO  - Archives of suicide research
A1  - Etzersdorfer, Elmar
A1  - Voracek, Martin
A1  - Sonneck, Gernot
SP  - 137
EP  - 145
VL  - 8
IS  - 2
N2  - Although the Werther effect is well known, up to now a correlation between the differential distribution of particular media reports and subsequent imitational suicides could not be found. This study investigates a celebrity suicide by gun in Austria, which led to extensive reports in the largest Austrian newspaper, whose distribution shows substantial regional differences. The numbers of suicides by firearm in the 3 weeks after the reporting showed an increase over the 3 weeks prior. Regional analysis revealed a strong correlation of suicides by firearm and distribution of the newspaper (log odds ratios; r(9) = .62; p = .04, one-tailed). This dose-response effect explains 40% of the variability of changes. These results underline the influence of media reports on suicidal behavior.
LA  - en
SN  - 1381-1118
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13811110490270985
ID  - ref1
ER  -