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Fields Changed

Registration

Field Before After
Study Withdrawn No
Intervention Completion Date July 23, 2018
Data Collection Complete Yes
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization) 155
Was attrition correlated with treatment status? No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations 155
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms Group A: n= 51; Group B: n = 52; Group C: n=52
Is there a restricted access data set available on request? Yes
Restricted Data Contact [email protected]
Program Files No
Data Collection Completion Date July 30, 2018
Is data available for public use? No
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Papers

Field Before After
Paper Abstract Objective: Media recommendations for the reporting of events where one person or a small group kills multiple others in public settings have been developed recently by suicide prevention experts. Evidence on the effects of reports that are compliant or noncompliant with these recommendations is lacking. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial with n = 148 participants who were randomly assigned to read newspaper articles (A) on acts of terrorism assumed to be conducted by Islamist terrorists and not consistent with media recommendations, (B) the same articles differing only in their compliance with recommendations, or (C) articles of similar style that were about homicide. Islamophobia as well as suicidal ideation, stress, and mood were measured before reading the article (T1), immediately afterwards (T2), and one week later (T3). The primary hypothesis was that there is an increase in islamophobia after exposure to media portrayals not consistent with media recommendations. Results: Compared to the control group, only participants reading media reports that were not consistent with media recommendations showed a short-term increase in islamophobia. Conclusion: These findings suggest that reporting on terrorism that is not consistent with media recommendations appears to increase islamophobia. In the context of reporting on Islamist terrorism, consistency with recommendations might help reduce negative attitudes toward Muslim minorities.
Paper Citation Laido, Z., Till, B., & Niederkrotenthaler, T. (2020). Short-term effects of media reports on terrorism that are consistent vs. not consistent with media recommendations on mass shootings: A randomized controlled trial. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 50(5), 948-962. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12636.
Paper URL https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12636
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