As redes sociais e a taxa de suicídio em jovens: uma análise comparativa entre períodos pré e pós popularização no Brasil

Abstract

This study compares the incidence rate of suicide among young people in Brazil in two distinct periods, the first, from 1986 to 2003, before the emergence of social networks, and the second, from 2004 to 2021, when social media became part of society's daily life, with the aim of observing the relationship between the popularization of social networks and the incidence of suicide among young people. A quantitative, time-series study was developed with an analytical approach. Data were collected through the Mortality Information System (SIM), through the Information and Informatics Department of the Unified Health System (DATASUS), with the sample consisting of all confirmed deaths from 1986 to 2021, regardless of sex and aged 15 to 24 years. The LibreOffice program was used to store the data and construct the tables. The comparative analysis of the number of deaths between the periods was performed using the Mann-Whitney test, in addition to collecting parametric measurements (mean and standard deviation). A significant difference was found between the groups, with the values in the second period (mean = 1888.9 and SD = 340.3) tending to be constantly higher than those in the first (mean = 1296.5 and SD = 249), as well as a higher incidence in males than in females (43,435 vs. 13,888 deaths) and in the age group of 20 to 24 years than in the age group of 15 to 19 years (34,892 vs. 22,247 deaths) in both periods. Thus, there was an increase in the absolute number and incidence rate of suicide during the period of popularization of social networks in relation to the previous one, regardless of sex and age group.