Back to Search
Start Over
Effects of exposure to self-harm on social media: Evidence from a two-wave panel study among young adults.
- Source :
-
New Media & Society . Nov/Dec2019, Vol. 21 Issue 11/12, p2422-2442. 21p. - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- Suicide is a leading cause of death among youth, and media depictions of suicidal behavior can be a contributing risk factor. Of interest, Instagram recently received more scholarly attention due to its large number of publicly available, explicit, and graphic depictions of self-harm. Importantly, researchers have hypothesized that exposure to this content could be a risk for self-harm and suicide in vulnerable audiences. We tested this hypothesis using a two-wave US panel survey among young adults (N = 729). Analyses indicated that exposure to self-harm on Instagram was associated with suicidal ideation, self-harm, and emotional disturbance even controlling for exposure to other sources with similar content. As hypothesized, exposure to self-harm on Instagram at the first wave prospectively predicted self-harm and suicidality-related outcomes at the second wave 1 month later. These findings provide evidence that such exposure can lead to contagion in vulnerable users. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14614448
- Volume :
- 21
- Issue :
- 11/12
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- New Media & Society
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 138575961
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819850106