Reading books and watching films as a protective factor against suicidal ideation

Mami Kasahara-Kiritani, Gergö Hadlaczky, Michael Westerlund, Vladimir Carli, Camilla Wasserman, Alan Apter, Judit Balazs, Julio Bobes, Romuald Brunner, Elaine M. McMahon, Doina Cosman, Luca Farkas, Christian Haring, Michael Kaess, Jean Pierre Kahn, Helen Keeley, Bogdan Nemes, Urša Mars Bitenc, Vita Postuvan, Pilar SaizMerike Sisask, Airi Värnik, Marco Sarchiapone, Christina W. Hoven, Danuta Wasserman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Reading books and watching films were investigated as protective factors for serious suicidal ideation (SSI) in young people with low perceived social belonging. Cross-sectional and longitudinal (12-month) analyses were performed using data from a representative European sample of 3256 students from the “Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe” study. Low social belonging was associated to SSI. However, reading books and watching films moderated this association, especially for those with lowest levels of belonging. This was true both at baseline and at 12 months of follow-up analyses. These media may act as sources of social support or mental health literacy and thus reduce the suicide risk constituted by low sense of belonging.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)15937-15942
Number of pages6
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume12
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Dec 2015
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Funding

FundersFunder number
Seventh Framework Programme223091

    Keywords

    • Adolescent
    • Belonging
    • Mental health
    • Protective factors
    • Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE)
    • Suicide

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