The Tool for Evaluating Media Portrayals of Suicide (TEMPOS): Development and Application of a Novel Rating Scale to Reduce Suicide Contagion

Chloe Chang Sorensen, Mego Lien, Vicki Harrison, John J. Donoghue, Jeevanjot Singh Kapur, Song Hi Kim, Nhi Thi Tran, Shashank V. Joshi and Sita G. Patel
Additional contact information
Chloe Chang Sorensen: Depression Clinical & Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
Mego Lien: Suicide Prevention Program, County of Santa Clara Behavioral Health Services Department, San Jose, CA 95128, USA
Vicki Harrison: Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
John J. Donoghue: Suicide Prevention Program, County of Santa Clara Behavioral Health Services Department, San Jose, CA 95128, USA
Jeevanjot Singh Kapur: Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Song Hi Kim: Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Nhi Thi Tran: Center for Care Innovations, Oakland, CA 94612, USA
Shashank V. Joshi: Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Sita G. Patel: Department of Psychology, Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: Research suggests that media adherence to suicide reporting recommendations in the aftermath of a highly publicized suicide event can help reduce the risk of imitative behavior, yet there exists no standardized tool for assessing adherence to these standards. The Tool for Evaluating Media Portrayals of Suicide (TEMPOS) allows media professionals, researchers, and suicide prevention experts to assess adherence to the recommendations with a user-friendly, standardized rating scale. An interdisciplinary team of raters constructed operational definitions for three levels of adherence to each of the reporting recommendations and piloted the scale on a sample of articles to assess reliability and clarify scale definitions. TEMPOS was then used to evaluate 220 news articles published during a high-risk period following the suicide deaths of two public figures. Post-hoc analyses of the results demonstrated how data produced by TEMPOS can be used to inform research and public health efforts, and inter-rater reliability analyses revealed substantial agreement across raters and criteria. A novel, wide-reaching, and practical approach to suicide prevention, TEMPOS allows researchers, suicide prevention professionals, and media professionals to study how adherence varies across contexts and can be used to guide future efforts to decrease the risk of media-induced suicide contagion.

Keywords: suicide; suicide prevention; safe messaging; imitative suicide; suicide contagion; media-influenced harm; media reporting; werther effect; papageno effect; program evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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