![]() ![]() ![]() They grow up with plentiful online resources to interact and communicate with others, making them digital natives. Whereas in adults, there is a clear dichotomy of online and offline social interactions, this distinction is less evident in young people. There are an estimated three billion social media users worldwide. For the purpose of this study, we adopted the definition of social media use provided by Ahmed and colleagues, whereby social media includes web and mobile platforms that allow individuals to connect with others within a virtual network, where they can share, co-create, or exchange various forms of digital content, including information, messages, photos, or videos. Social media is ubiquitous and intricately interwoven with the lives of people. Over the last decades, social media had played an increasingly prominent role in the development and lives of young people. ![]() The lives of youth are characterised by their family life, school, and social relations. Several psychological autopsy studies have additionally provided insights into psychosocial risk factors, including adverse life events and childhood trauma, and discussed the interplay between these factors. Cha and colleagues report that the strongest lines of evidence are found for childhood maltreatment and bullying. Increasing attention is directed towards identifying psychosocial risk factors of adolescent suicide. ![]() It is a leading cause of death among adolescents aged 15–29 worldwide. On average, one young person under 20 dies by suicide every week in the Netherlands. Suicide of young people is a major public health concern. We encourage future research to examine how virtual social networks may sustain suicidal thoughts and behaviour, and to further investigate the effectiveness of digital interventions, like moderated peer support and the use of positive role models. Conclusionsīased on the findings, we recommend education to stimulate the digital literacy of parents, health workers and educators, supporting conscientious social media use in young people, and extending the prevention of cyberbullying. Next-of-kin, particularly parents, faced various challenges to talk to the adolescents about social media use, including technological illiteracy, online anonymity, and the youths’ closedness. A group of girls cultivated an online identity around their suicidal thoughts and behaviours. The themes of dependency and triggers and imitation were more salient in young females. However, various themes were discussed relating to the harmful effects of social media, including dependency, triggers and imitation, challenges, cybervictimization and psychological entrapment. Young people benefitted from peer support and recovery stories. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was performed of 55 semi structured interviews with peers and parents of the decedents. All were under the age of twenty years, with an average of seventeen years. Methodsĭata were analyzed from a psychological autopsy study of 35 adolescents who died by suicide in the Netherlands (43% of all adolescents who died by suicide in that year). The current study aimed to inform digital suicide prevention strategies by examining the meaning of social media in the lives of young suicide victims and elucidating the harmful and supportive effects of social media use on their wellbeing and distress. The influence of social media on mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviours has been amply studied, but there is little empirical evidence for its potential role in adolescent suicides. While there are many benefits for young people to use social media, adverse effects such as cyberbullying, online challenges, social comparison and imitation may provoke and aggravate suicidal thoughts and behaviors. ![]()
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