TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2018//
TI  - The impact of widely publicized suicides on search trends: using Google Trends to test the Werther and Papageno Effects
JO  - Archives of suicide research
A1  - Lester, David
A1  - Goldstein, Sara E.
A1  - Gunn, John F.
SP  - 1
EP  - 24
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of widely publicized suicides on the Werther and Papageno Effects using internet search trends. <br><br>METHOD: A list of widely publicized suicides from 2010 through 2018 was compiled along with dates of death for each of these individuals. Google.com/trends data was then collected for searches for "how to suicide" and "suicide prevention" for 14 days prior to a widely publicized suicide/14 days after a widely publicized suicide and 7 days prior to a widely publicized suicide/7 days after a widely publicized suicide. Comparisons were then made between these time periods for "how to suicide" and "suicide prevention." RESULTS: Some celebrities, such as Robin Williams (2014) and Aaron Hernandez (2017) were associated with increased searches. However, for many there was no increase in search trends. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Limited support was found for the impact of widely publicized suicides on internet search trends with one case supporting a Werther Effect and one case supporting a Papageno Effect. The finding that only some celebrities were associated with increased searches may be a byproduct of the impact of celebrity status on these effects, with more prominent celebrities having the greatest impact.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1381-1118
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2018.1522284
ID  - ref1
ER  -