(Vienna, 13-06-2023) Stefanie Kirchner from MedUni Vienna's Center for Public Health has been awarded a prize for her dissertation in the field of suicide prevention. The Dr. Maria Schaumayer Foundation Award promotes scientific research and achievements by Austrian women to support them on their career paths.
The FWF project, which was carried out at MedUni Vienna from 2018 to 2022, investigated the effect of "It Gets Better" suicide prevention videos on LGBTQ+ youth, i.e. teenagers who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer, or who identify with any other sexual or gender minority identity. In these videos, primarily LGBTQ+ adults talk about adverse situations (mostly experienced in their youth or during their coming out) and how they successfully overcame them. Results have shown that narratives of successful coping seem to have a positive effect on LGBTQ+ youth, especially for nonbinary/transgender youth with depressive symptomatology. Identification with the person featured in the video was key for the impact of suicide prevention messages. "However, overall the videos were not representative of all LGBTQ+ groups and more videos are needed, that are especially tailored to the needs of LGBTQ+ youth, to reach and thus appeal to more people," says Stefanie Kirchner, who analyzed the project in her dissertation. Thomas Niederkrotenthaler from the Center for Public Health at MedUni Vienna acted as principal investigator and dissertation supervisor.
About Stefanie Kirchner:
Stefanie Kirchner, born in Vienna in 1991, studied public health in Vienna and epidemiology in London. She completed her PhD studies in Public Health at the Medical University of Vienna from 2018-2022. Since 2018, she has been a research associate at the Center for Public Health in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, conducting research on suicide prevention, mental health, and media influences.