FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 317:809-811 September 24, 1987 Number 13 Next

	Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

Abstract

Gould and Shaffer studied suicides by teenagers in the New York City area before and after three fictional films about suicide were televised, and presented evidence suggesting that the films were followed by a significant increase in teenage suicides. Using their methods, we studied teenage suicides in California and Pennsylvania before and after the television broadcast of the same three films. In these states, there was no evidence of an increase in teenage suicides after the films were shown. This remained true when data for New York from the study of Gould and Shaffer were combined with our data from California and Pennsylvania. We conclude that it is premature to be concerned about possibly fatal effects of fictional televised films about suicide.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Phillips, D. P., Barker, G. E. C., Eguchi, M. M. (2008). A Steep Increase in Domestic Fatal Medication Errors With Use of Alcohol and/or Street Drugs. Arch Intern Med 168: 1561-1566 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gunter, B. (2008). Media Violence: Is There a Case for Causality?. American Behavioral Scientist 51: 1061-1122 [Abstract]  
• Phillips, D. P., Jarvinen, J. R., Abramson, I. S., Phillips, R. R. (2004). Cardiac Mortality Is Higher Around Christmas and New Year's Than at Any Other Time: The Holidays as a Risk Factor for Death. Circulation 110: 3781-3788 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gould, M., Jamieson, P., Romer, D. (2003). Media Contagion and Suicide Among the Young. American Behavioral Scientist 46: 1269-1284 [Abstract]  
• Kostinsky, S., Bixler, E. O., Kettl, P. A. (2001). Threats of School Violence in Pennsylvania After Media Coverage of the Columbine High School Massacre: Examining the Role of Imitation. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 155: 994-1001 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mercy, J. A., Kresnow, M.-j., O'Carroll, P. W., Lee, R. K., Powell, K. E., Potter, L. B., Swann, A. C., Frankowski, R. F., Bayer, T. L. (2001). Is Suicide Contagious? A Study of the Relation between Exposure to the Suicidal Behavior of Others and Nearly Lethal Suicide Attempts. Am J Epidemiol 154: 120-127 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Westefeld, J. S., Range, L. M., Rogers, J. R., Maples, M. R., Bromley, J. L., Alcorn, J. (2000). Suicide: An Overview. The Counseling Psychologist 28: 445-510 [Abstract]  
• Ng, B. (1996). Characteristics of 61 Mexican American Adolescents Who Attempted Suicide. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 18: 3-12 [Abstract]