Suicide

Although some researchers have attributed the rise in adolescent suicide to social media and smart phone use, researcher Dan Romer says economic and parental pressures are as likely to blame.

A recent study estimated that an additional 195 suicide deaths among young people occurred after the release of the TV series “13 Reasons Why.” A commentary co-authored by APPC's Dan Romer asks how to interpret that number and whether it obscures a complex set of media effects.

A study of adults based on a two-wave survey finds an association between seeing images of self-harm on Instagram and subsequent self-harm. Most who say they've seen the images report being disturbed by them.

Given the series’ popularity and its potentially harmful effects, researchers at APPC and three other institutions conducted a study to more fully understand the effects of the show through a survey of U.S. young adults, ages 18 to 29, before and after the May 2018 release of its second season.

Despite the fact that the holiday season has some of the lowest average daily suicide rates, some journalists continue to inadvertently perpetuate the holiday-suicide myth.

For media reporting on the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, these recommendations for reporting on suicide were developed by mental health, journalism and suicide prevention authorities, including APPC.

Nearly two-thirds of the newspaper stories linking the holidays and suicide over the 2016-17 holiday season supported a false connection between the two, according to an analysis of media coverage.

A popular theory in recent neuroscience proposes that slow development of the prefrontal cortex explains teenagers’ seemingly impulsive and risky behavior. An extensive literature review challenges that interpretation.