Contagion as a Risk Factor for Youth Suicide (IN: Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Youth Suicide. Volume 2: Risk Factors for Youth Suicide)

This paper focuses on the processes by which one suicide becomes a compelling model for successive suicides or facilitates other suicides. Two bodies of literature are reviewed: (1) reports of suicide epidemics or clusters for evidence of contagion & possible mechanisms & (2) research on the effects of suicide stories in the mass media. The authors present 5 recommendations to prevent youth suicide clusters, as well as, some questions for future research. (CM)