Media Coverage of Youth Suicides and Its Impact on Paediatric Mental Health Emergency Department Presentations

Abstract

To examine mental health (MH) presentations to the emergency department (ED) of a paediatric hospital following two highly publicized local teen suicides. Youths aged 12-18 years with a MH chief complaint and/or diagnosis were included. Differences in frequencies were analyzed using chi-square tests, and relative risks were evaluated using generalized linear modelling. Significant increases in the number of ED presentations were found within the months of the publicized suicides compared to the same months of previous years. No differences were found in symptom acuity, suicidal status and psychiatric hospitalization rates. Significant increases were found in relative risk of presenting to the ED 28 and 90 days post both publicized suicides. RESULTS suggest there was an association between highly publicized suicides and an increase in the number of MH presentations to the local paediatric ED. Considerations of media's potentially positive role in MH awareness are needed.