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Research has examined suicide-related behaviors following exposure to suicide news articles, yet only a handful of studies utilized experimental designs. We aimed to address the limitations of these prior experimental studies by utilizing more realistic suicide articles and more empirically sound measures. 420 participants were randomly assigned to read a series of either suicide-related or neutral news articles, then complete a battery of questionnaires and the Death/Suicide Implicit Association Task. Overall, no significant differences between groups were observed, nor did we observe any moderation effect of individual vulnerabilities (e.g., lifetime suicidal ideation/behavior). We did not observe any immediate effects of exposure to suicide news articles. Further research examining potential mechanisms for imitative effects remains critically needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using self-harm Implicit Association Tests (IATs), we sought to test whether (1) suicidal adolescents show implicit identification with self-harm and whether (2) IATs are reliable and sensitive to psychiatric change and (3) predict future suicide attempts. We administered 6 self-harm IATs to 71 adolescents from a psychiatric inpatient unit and assessed suicidal behaviors at admission, discharge and 3 months after discharge. Results were in the expected direction for each IAT but not statistically significant. After aggregating trials across IATs, suicide attempters showed increased implicit identification with self-harm, compared with non-suicidal controls. IATs showed good reliability and sensitivity to psychiatric change but did not prospectively predict suicide attempts. Adolescent suicide attempters may have stronger implicit associations with self-harm than non-suicidal controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]