Suicide among soldiers and social contagion effects: An interrupted time-series analysis

Florian Arendt and Manina Mestas

Social Science & Medicine, 2023, vol. 320, issue C

Abstract: Suicide has become an increasingly concerning problem among soldiers in recent years. Previous research has hypothesized that media-related social contagion effects, termed “Werther effects,” may contribute to military suicide numbers. Unfortunately, there is limited empirical knowledge on such social contagion effects in soldiers. We contribute to the literature by investigating this phenomenon in the context of a specific historical suicide case, allowing us to provide a longitudinal assessment: Crown Prince Rudolf, heir to the Imperial throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who died by suicide in January 1889. His death was a well-known news story that shook the monarchy to its foundations. Notably, soldiers of the late nineteenth century were an especially vulnerable portion of the population, proven by the fact that the Austro-Hungarian military had one of the highest suicide rates at the time compared to other European countries.

Keywords: military Suicide; Social contagion; Werther effect; Crown prince rudolf; Military culture; Bullying (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:320:y:2023:i:c:s027795362300103x

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115747

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