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13 Reasons Why Not: A Methodological and Meta-Analytic Review of Evidence Regarding Suicide Contagion by Fictional Media

Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, volume 49, issue 4 (2019), pp. 1178-1186
"For decades, policymakers and suicide prevention advocates have questioned whether exposure to media with suicide themes, whether television, movies, or music, could increase suicide risk among youth. To date, no clear picture has emerged, with data inconsistent. Two broad forms of data consider the issue, namely society-level aggregate data, and data from smaller correlational and experimental studies. The current article examined the evidence for suicide contagion by fictional media with a methodological and meta-analytic review. Results suggest that current data do not support the theory that suicide contagion by fictional media occurs." (Abstract)