TY  - JOUR
AU  - Onie, Sandersan
AU  - Armstrong, Susanne Oliver
AU  - Josifovski, Natasha
AU  - Berlinquette, Patrick
AU  - Livingstone, Nicola
AU  - Holland, Sarah
AU  - Finemore, Coco
AU  - Gale, Nyree
AU  - Elder, Emma
AU  - Laggis, George
AU  - Heffernan, Cassandra
AU  - Theobald, Adam
AU  - Torok, Michelle
AU  - Shand, Fiona
AU  - Larsen, Mark
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/3/19
TI  - The Effect of Explicit Suicide Language in Engagement With a Suicide Prevention Search Page Help-Seeking Prompt: Nonrandomized Trial
JO  - JMIR Ment Health
SP  - e50283
VL  - 11
KW  - suicide
KW  - suicide prevention
KW  - Google
KW  - Google Ads
KW  - internet search
KW  - explicit wording
KW  - mental health
KW  - suicidal
KW  - advertisement
KW  - advertisements
KW  - messaging
KW  - prevention signage
KW  - campaign
KW  - campaigns
KW  - distress
KW  - engagement
KW  - prompt
KW  - prompts
KW  - information seeking
KW  - help seeking
KW  - searching
KW  - search
AB  - Background: 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. Objective: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusions: 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. 
SN  - 2368-7959
UR  - https://mental.jmir.org/2024/1/e50283
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/50283
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38502162
DO  - 10.2196/50283
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/50283
ER  -