Social Media and Suicidal Behaviour - Study 1

Summary

There is limited research investigating the correlation between suicidal behavior in the general population and online journalism reporting on suicide. Even less explored are the roles and characteristics of suicide-related news posts on social media platforms, along with reader comments, and their association with users' experiences. The primary objective of this randomized controlled trial is to experimentally examine the influence of these post features on user perceptions. Participants are expected to be university students or young adults.

In line with this aim, the following research question has been posed:

How do users of social media and forums perceive news posts about suicide on social media platforms?

Participants will complete a screening battery of questionnaires. Those who will be eligible to participate will be divided into 1 experimental and 2 control groups. Firstly the participants will fill out a questionnaire regarding their current mood. Each group will read posts of a different theme, one of them will be suicidal behavior, deaths due to traffic accidents, and nature. They will be asked to observe and read 4 social media posts and their corresponding articles. After each article, they will answer a few questions on how they perceived these articles and how are they currently feeling. After the main part of the study, all groups of participants will be involved in a group debriefing conversation.

Conditions

• Suicidal Behaviour

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Reading journalistic posts and articles on social media on nature

Reading journalistic posts and articles, published on social media, regarding nature.

BEHAVIORAL

Reading journalistic posts and articles on social media on deaths by suicide

Reading journalistic posts and articles, published on social media, regarding deaths by suicide.

BEHAVIORAL

Reading journalistic posts and articles on social media on traffic-related deaths

Reading journalistic posts and articles, published on social media, regarding traffic-related deaths

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Slovenian Research Agency

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Primorska

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Diego De Leo · University of Primorska

• Vita Poštuvan · University of Primorska

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

40 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-12-01

Primary Completion

2024-08-12

Completion

2025-10-31

Countries

• Slovenia

Study Locations