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Experiencing the suicide of a parent or a sibling is one of the most disruptive and stressful events in the life of a child or adolescent. Yet, little is known about the effectiveness of support offered to children and adolescents bereaved by suicide. This study aimed to evaluate participant and facilitator's perceived helpfulness of the new online Let's Talk Suicide program, piloted in 2021. Thematic Analysis of qualitative interviews with 4 children, 7 parents, and 3 facilitators (N = 14). The analysis identified four themes focused on suicide bereavement specific support, the online environment experiences, expectations and perceived outcomes of the program, and parents' involvement in the program. The young participants, parents, and facilitators were very positive about the program. They felt that it supported the children in their grief after suicide, helped to normalize their experiences, offered social support from peers and professionals, and enhanced their language and skills to express themselves and to deal with their emotions. Though longitudinal research is needed, the new program seems to address an existing gap in postvention services for children and adolescents bereaved by suicide. The children felt supported in their grief as it enhanced their skills and language to express themselves. The program also acknowledged the parents and supported them in their parenting role. Future longitudinal studies may enhance the evidence of effectiveness of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most countries, men complete suicide at twice the rate of women; masculinity plays an important role in placing men at a greater risk of suicide. This study identifies and describes trends in the topics discussed within the masculinity and suicide literature and explores changes over time. We retrieved publications relating to masculinity and suicide from eight electronic databases and described origins in the field of research by reference to the first decade of publications. We then explored the subsequent evolution of the field by analysis of the content of article titles/abstracts for all years since the topic first emerged, and then separately by three epochs. We included 452 publications (1954–2021); research output has grown substantially in the last five years. Early publications framed suicide in the context of severe mental illness, masculinity as a risk factor, and suicidality as being aggressive and masculine. We observed some differences in themes over time: Epoch 1 focused on sex differences in suicidality, a common theme in epochs 2 was relationship to work and its effect on men's mental health and suicidality, and epoch 3 had a focus on help-seeking in suicidality. The research field of masculinity and suicide is growing strongly, as evidenced by recent increase in publication volume. The structure, content and direction of the masculinity and suicide research are still evolving. Researchers must work with policymakers and practitioners to ensure that emerging findings are translated for use in programs designed to address suicide in boys and men. Masculinity and suicide as a field is not new, with its origins in the literature dating back to 1954. More than half of the total research output in the field (1954–2021) has been published in the last five years. Early work focused on individual-level risk factors to male suicide (e.g., severe mental illness), while contemporary research focused on social and cultural determinants of male suicide (e.g., help-seeking). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study assessed the extent to which local reporting of Robin Williams' suicide (on 11 August 2014) was associated with suicide in Australia. It followed several studies in the United States which showed that there were significant increases in suicide following media reports of Williams' death and that those media reports were less than optimal in terms of adherence to best-practice guidelines. In a previous study, we demonstrated that Australian media reports of Williams' suicide were largely adherent with our Mindframe guidelines on responsible reporting of suicide, so we speculated that there would be no increase in suicide following the reporting of Williams' suicide in Australia. Method: We extracted data on Australian suicides from the National Coroners Information System for the period 2001 to 2016. We conducted interrupted time series regression analyses to determine whether there were changes in suicides in the 5-month period immediately following Williams' suicide. Results: Our hypothesis that there would be no increase in suicides in Australia following Williams' highly publicised suicide was not supported. There was an 11% increase in suicides in the 5-month period following Williams' death, largely accounted for by men aged 30–64 and by people who died by hanging (the method Williams used). Conclusion: It may be that Australians were exposed to reports that contravened safe reporting recommendations, particularly via overseas media or social media, and/or that some Australian reports may have had unhelpful overarching narratives, despite largely adhering to the Mindframe guidelines. The Mindframe guidelines constitute international best practice but consideration should be given to whether certain recommendations within them should be further reinforced and whether more nuanced information about how stories should be framed could be provided. Future revision and augmentation of the Mindframe guidelines should, as always, involve media professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]