Characteristics of articles focusing on suicide in major publications in Toronto media (2011–2014) and their association with increases or decreases in suicides after publication
| Characteristics of media item | Total (%) n = 6367 | No. of articles followed by increased suicides (%) | No. of articles followed by no change in suicides (%) | No. of articles followed by decreased suicides (%) | Harmful effect analysis* | Protective effect analysis† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increased v. no change or decreased suicides OR (95% CI) | No change or increased v. decreased suicides OR (95% CI) | |||||
| Item location | ||||||
| Front page | 314 (4.9) | 134 (42.7) | 50 (15.9) | 130 (41.4) | 0.95 (0.76–1.20) | 1.03 (0.82–1.30) |
| Online | 2667 (41.9) | 1191 (44.7) | 367 (13.8) | 1109 (41.6) | 1.06 (0.96–1.18) | 1.04 (0.94–1.15) |
| Age focus | ||||||
| Youth | 2014 (31.6) | 836 (41.5) | 268 (13.3) | 910 (45.2) | 0.87 (0.79–0.97) | 0.83 (0.75–0.93) |
| Adult | 2029 (31.9) | 913 (45.0) | 288 (14.2) | 828 (40.8) | 1.08 (0.97–1.20) | 1.08 (0.97–1.21) |
| Older adults | 458 (7.2) | 232 (50.7) | 67 (14.6) | 159 (34.7) | 1.35 (1.11–1.63) | 1.40 (1.15–1.71) |
| Gender focus | ||||||
| Male | 3417 (53.7) | 1465 (42.9) | 438 (12.8) | 1514 (44.3) | 1.05 (0.94–1.16) | 0.94 (0.85–1.04) |
| Female | 2501 (39.3) | 1076 (43.0) | 360 (14.4) | 1065 (42.6) | 0.95 (0.86–1.05) | 0.97 (0.88–1.08) |
| Suicide focus | ||||||
| Ideation | 1547 (24.3) | 659 (42.6) | 244 (15.8) | 644 (41.6) | 0.94 (0.84–1.05) | 1.03 (0.92–1.16) |
| Attempt | 1079 (16.9) | 467 (43.3) | 158 (14.6) | 454 (42.1) | 0.98 (0.86–1.11) | 1.00 (0.88–1.15) |
| Death | 4764 (74.8) | 2062 (43.3) | 650 (13.6) | 2052 (43.1) | 0.92 (0.83–1.04) | 0.86 (0.77–0.97) |
| Article focus | ||||||
| Specific person’s death or suicidality | 5199 (81.7) | 2245 (43.2) | 708 (13.6) | 2246 (43.2) | 0.88 (0.77–1.00) | 0.79 (0.69–.90) |
| Suicide research | 1220 (19.2) | 549 (45) | 176 (14.4) | 495 (40.6) | 1.06 (0.94–1.21) | 1.08 (0.96–1.23) |
| Suicide public policy | 1050 (16.5) | 412 (39.2) | 155 (14.8) | 483 (46) | 0.80 (0.70–0.92) | 0.83 (0.73–0.95) |
| Assisted death | 1123 (17.6) | 519 (46.2) | 169 (15.0) | 435 (38.7) | 1.13 (0.99–1.28) | 1.19 (1.04–1.36) |
| Individual murder-suicide | 483 (7.6) | 202 (41.8) | 40 (8.3) | 241 (49.9) | 0.92 (0.76–1.11) | 0.71 (0.59–0.86) |
| Mass murder-suicide | 131 (2.1) | 63 (48.1) | 24 (18.3) | 44 (33.6) | 1.19 (0.85–1.69) | 1.45 (1.01–2.09) |
| Suicide pact | 131 (2.1) | 75 (57.3) | 18 (13.7) | 38 (29.0) | 1.74 (1.23–2.47) | 1.81 (1.23–2.64) |
| Legal issues related to suicide | 2929 (46.0) | 1298 (44.3) | 452 (15.4) | 1179 (40.3) | 1.04 (0.94–1.15) | 1.16 (1.05–1.28) |
| Suicide as institutional protest | 80 (1.3) | 36 (45) | 14 (17.5) | 30 (37.5) | 1.05 (0.68–1.64) | 1.22 (0.77–1.92) |
| Suicide in fiction | 289 (4.5) | 128 (44.3) | 48 (16.6) | 113 (39.1) | 0.90 (0.68–1.19) | 1.07 (0.81–1.41) |
| Article type | ||||||
| Opinion column | 952 (15.0) | 434 (45.6) | 144 (15.1) | 374 (39.3) | 1.09 (0.95–1.25) | 1.15 (1.00–1.32) |
| Advice column | 28 (0.4) | 10 (35.7) | 1 (3.6) | 17 (60.7) | 0.71 (0.33–1.55) | 0.47 (0.22–1.01) |
Note: CI = confidence interval, OR = odds ratio.
↵* Harmful effect = comparisons of proportion of articles followed by increased suicides v. proportion of articles followed by no change or decreased suicides; ORs > 1 show a harmful effect.
↵† Protective effect = comparisons of proportion of articles followed by decreased suicides v. proportion of articles followed by no change or increased suicides; ORs < 1 show a protective effect.