Abstract
BackgroundA limited number of studies have examined the differences in suicide-related social media use behaviors between suicide ideators and suicide attempters or have sought to elucidate how these social media usage behaviors contributed to the transition from suicidal ideation to suicide attempt.ObjectiveSuicide attempts can be acquired through suicide-related social media use behaviors. This study aimed to propose 3 suicide-related social media use behaviors (ie, attending to suicide information, commenting on or reposting suicide information, or talking about suicide) based on social cognitive theory, which proposes that successive processes governing behavior transition include attentional, retention, production, and motivational processes.MethodsWe aimed to examine the mediating role of suicide-related social media use behaviors in Chinese social media users with suicidal risks. A sample of 569 Chinese social media users with suicidal ideation completed measures on suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and suicide-related social media use behaviors.ResultsThe results demonstrated that suicide attempters showed a significantly higher level of suicidal ideation (t563.64=5.04; P<.001; two-tailed) and more suicide-related social media use behaviors, which included attending to suicide information (t567=1.94; P=.05; two-tailed), commenting on or reposting suicide information (t567=2.12; P=.03; two-tailed), or talking about suicide (t542.22=5.12; P<.001; two-tailed). Suicidal ideation also affected suicide attempts through the mediational chains.ConclusionsOur findings thus support the social cognitive theory, and there are implications for population-based suicide prevention that can be achieved by identifying behavioral signals.
Highlights
Suicide has been a critical public health problem, with approximately 1 million people committing suicide worldwide annually [1]
Our results indicate that suicide-related social media use behaviors are a social learning process, which turns suicide ideators into suicide attempters through the process of attention, retention, and production before moving to motivation, as depicted in the social cognitive theory
This study aimed to investigate the behavioral markers available for distinguishing suicide ideators from suicide attempters and elucidate the behavioral process that transits from suicidal ideation to suicide attempt
Summary
Background Suicide has been a critical public health problem, with approximately 1 million people committing suicide worldwide annually [1]. It was reported that one-third of people with suicidal ideation would take actions to kill themselves [3]. To facilitate precise suicide risk assessment and prevention, it is crucial to identify the mechanism that illustrates how suicide ideators progress into suicide attempters. To elucidate how suicide capabilities can turn suicidal ideation into suicide attempt, studies investigating observable behaviors as warning signals that foreshadow how suicidal ideation turns into suicide attempt are warranted, and such information would enhance population-based suicide screening and improve the efficiency of suicide prevention [6]. A limited number of studies have examined the differences in suicide-related social media use behaviors between suicide ideators and suicide attempters or have sought to elucidate how these social media usage behaviors contributed to the transition from suicidal ideation to suicide attempt
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