The Effect of Explicit Suicide Language in Engagement With a Suicide Prevention Search Page Help-Seeking Prompt: Nonrandomized Trial

Given that signage, messaging, and advertisements (ads) are the gateway to many interventions in suicide prevention, it is important that we understand what type of messaging works best for whom. We investigated whether explicitly mentioning suicide increases engagement using internet ads by investi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:JMIR mental health 2024-03, Vol.11, p.e50283-e50283
Main Authors: Onie, Sandersan, Armstrong, Susanne Oliver, Josifovski, Natasha, Berlinquette, Patrick, Livingstone, Nicola, Holland, Sarah, Finemore, Coco, Gale, Nyree, Elder, Emma, Laggis, George, Heffernan, Cassandra, Theobald, Adam, Torok, Michelle, Shand, Fiona, Larsen, Mark
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advisors
Australia
Conversion
Gender
Help seeking behavior
Humans
Internet
Intervention
Keywords
Language
Original Paper
Search strategies
Suicidal behavior
Suicidal Ideation
Suicide
Suicide Prevention
Suicides & suicide attempts
Telephone hotlines
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Summary:Given that signage, messaging, and advertisements (ads) are the gateway to many interventions in suicide prevention, it is important that we understand what type of messaging works best for whom. We investigated whether explicitly mentioning suicide increases engagement using internet ads by investigating engagement with campaigns with different categories of keywords searched, which may reflect different cognitive states. We ran a 2-arm study Australia-wide, with or without ads featuring explicit suicide wording. We analyzed whether there were differences in engagement for campaigns with explicit and nonexplicit ads for low-risk (distressed but not explicitly suicidal), high-risk (explicitly suicidal), and help-seeking for suicide keywords. Our analyses revealed that having explicit wording has opposite effects, depending on the search terms used: explicit wording reduced the engagement rate for individuals searching for low-risk keywords but increased engagement for those using high-risk keywords. The findings suggest that individuals who are aware of their suicidality respond better to campaigns that explicitly use the word "suicide." We found that individuals who search for low-risk keywords also respond to explicit ads, suggesting that some individuals who are experiencing suicidality search for low-risk keywords.
ISSN:2368-7959
2368-7959
DOI:10.2196/50283