Systematic review and meta-analyses of suicidal outcomes following fictional portrayals of suicide and suicide attempt in entertainment media

BACKGROUND: Guidelines to encourage responsible reporting of suicide in news media are a key component of suicide prevention strategies. Recent guidelines have been developed on portrayal of suicide in entertainment media although the relationship between these portrayals and subsequent suicidal behaviour has received considerably less attention in research. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the association between portrayals of suicide and suicide attempt in entertainment media and suicidal behaviour in the population. We searched PubMed, Scopus, Embase, PsycInfo, Web of Science and Google Scholar until April 20, 2021. We included studies adopting interrupted time series or single/multiple arm pre-post designs. Separate analyses were undertaken for studies of suicide and suicide attempts. We synthesized studies at moderate risk of bias and included studies at serious risk in a sensitivity analysis. Using a random-effects meta-analysis, we synthesized studies at moderate risk of bias and included studies at serious risk in a sensitivity analysis. Study registration: PROSPERO (CRD42020221333). FINDINGS: Twelve studies met our inclusion criteria. Six studies were about suicide. Two of these were at moderate risk of bias and both examined the effects of the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. The pooled rate ratio (RR) for these studies was 1·18 (95% CI 1·09 to 1·27, p<0·001). Heterogeneity was low (I(2) = 29%). Six studies focused on suicide attempts, and two of them were at moderate risk of bias. The pooled RR for these two studies was 1·33 (95% CI 0·84 to 2·09, p = 0·22). Heterogeneity was high (I(2) = 92%). Enhanced funnel plots indicated likely publication bias for studies of suicide and possible bias for studies of attempted suicide. INTERPRETATION: Portrayals of suicide in entertainment media may increase suicides and attempted suicide in the population. More studies that limit the potential sources of bias are needed to fully understand the circumstances under which fictional portrayals may influence suicidal behaviour. FUNDING: None.