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| Published: March 23, 2017

Internet Use and Suicidal Ideation among Young People: A Narrative Review

Tan Zong Yan ,

Student, Master of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Google Scholar More about the auther

Norhayati Ibrahim ,

Senior Lecturer of Health Psychology Programme and Registered Counselor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Google Scholar More about the auther

Normah bte Che Din ,

Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Google Scholar More about the auther

Kok Jin Kuan

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Google Scholar More about the auther

DIP: 18.01.152/20170402

DOI: 10.25215/0402.152

ABSTRACT

The Internet is being widely used by many, and it has greatly affected the medical field, especially in terms of the learning and practice of psychiatry. Record-keeping and the transmission of information are facilitated and made available to many through accessibility to the Internet. However, there are some shortcomings following the advancement of the Internet. Suicide, which is regarded as a serious public health issue, has been related to the use of the Internet. Therefore, the aim of this review is to summarize and assess the existing work on the influence of internet usage over suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among young people. The appropriate studies were identified through four databases, namely Ebscohost, Ovid, PsyArticle and SAGE Publications. The key terms employed in the search were “problematic Internet use”, “Internet use”, “suicidal*” and “adolescent*”, and the publications were limited to the years 2005 to 2015. A total of fourteen studies were included in this review. The results suggested an association between search trends with the suicide-related terms and the suicide rate. In addition, young people also tend to portray their suicidal ideation through the Internet. Besides, the websites that were accessed using the suicide-related terms tended to be both pro- and anti-suicide. Therefore, it is suggested that future research should be aimed at developing websites which can provide assistance to the group at risk.
Responding Author Information

Tan Zong Yan @ norhayati70@gmail.com

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ISSN 2348-5396

ISSN 2349-3429

DIP: 18.01.152/20170402

DOI: 10.25215/0402.152

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Published in   Volume 04, Issue 2, January-March, 2017