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A Test of the Effectiveness of a List of Suicide Warning Signs for the Public
Author(s) -
Van Orden Kimberly A.,
Joiner Thomas E.,
Hollar Daniel,
Rudd M. David,
Mandrusiak Michael,
Silverman Morton M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1521/suli.2006.36.3.272
Subject(s) - warning signs , suicide prevention , blame , poison control , injury prevention , occupational safety and health , human factors and ergonomics , psychology , test (biology) , psychiatry , public health , reading (process) , medical emergency , medicine , clinical psychology , nursing , paleontology , pathology , transport engineering , law , political science , engineering , biology
In this study we examined the effect that reading a list of warning signs for suicide has on beliefs about suicide, including the belief that one can recognize a suicidal crisis. All participants read two sets of warning signs (with only the experimental group reading the suicide warning signs) and then answered questions concerning beliefs related to three health problems. Results indicate that participants who read the suicide warning signs reported greater abilities to recognize if someone is suicidal but did not report stronger beliefs that suicidal individuals are partly to blame, nor did they report lower likelihoods of befriending suicidal individuals. Results suggest that reading the list of warning signs may be effective in increasing the public's ability to recognize suicidal crises without creating or magnifying stigmatizing beliefs about suicidal individuals.