2008/02/01 by Christiane Eichenberg · 94 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Suicide and Self-Harm Studies #Impact of Technology on Adolescents #Digital Mental Health Interventions #Typology #The Internet #Constructive #Harm #Psychology #Point (geometry) #German #Internet privacy #Public opinion #Social psychology #Computer science #World Wide Web #Political science #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1089/cpb.2007.9924
published in CyberPsychology & Behavior 11(1), 107-113 (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.)
openalex publication_date 2008/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/11
Clinical psychological discourse contains a varied array of evaluations of the risks and/or benefits of Internet message boards where people can discuss their suicidal thoughts. Public opinion contends they are harmful. To assess this assumption, an online questionnaire (N = 164) survey was conducted on a German message board for suicidal people. Three user types were identified with differing motives for visiting the forum and different usage effects of the message board. The results contradict the assumptions that suicide message boards are generally a source of potential harm and that they foster suicidal tendencies and point instead to their predominantly constructive or even suicide-preventive functions.