Media Guidelines for Suicide Prevention: Content Analysis of News Stories on Depression According to Health Belief Model

Abstract

This study analyzed suicide prevention news stories given the impact of media contents on the public’s health behavior. News articles providing portal sites NAVER were selected as samples for the time period of October 2014 to October 2015, these data were collected by web crawling method. ‘suicide’ and ‘depression’ were used as search words, random sampling was used to select the sample news. Viewing depression treatment as a way of suicide prevention behavior, we assessed the way suicide prevention news communicated depressive symptoms and treatment based on five factors of Health Belief Model. Results show that less than half of suicide prevention news contained the susceptibility component, while most emphasized the severity of depression leading to suicide. Furthermore, very few news stories delivered information on the benefits and barriers of depression treatment. Regarding cues to action, active cues suggesting professional consultation with doctors were lacking, as opposed to more frequent mention of passive cues such as exercise and dietary treatment. Over-emphasis on the severity, along with the lack of the susceptibility and psychological barriers, appears to increase stigma toward suicide and depression. Lack of the benefits and active cues to action may contribute to the public perception failing to understand depressive symptoms as a treatable disease. Taken together, the results provide practical and scholarly implications on the role of media contents for suicide prevention.