The Mental Health Consequences of Mass Shootings

Abstract

Mass shooting episodes have increased over recent decades and received substantial media coverage. Despite the potentially widespread and increasing mental health impact of mass shootings, no efforts to our knowledge have been made to review the empirical literature on this topic. We identified 49 peer-reviewed articles, comprised of 27 independent samples in the aftermath of 15 mass shooting incidents. Based on our review, we concluded that mass shootings are associated with a variety of adverse psychological outcomes in survivors and members of affected communities. Less is known about the psychological effects of mass shootings on indirectly exposed populations; however, there is evidence that such events lead to at least short-term increases in fears and declines in perceived safety. A variety of risk factors for adverse psychological outcomes have been identified, including demographic and pre-incident characteristics (e.g., female gender and pre-incident psychological symptoms), event exposure (e.g., greater proximity to the attack and acquaintance with the deceased), and fewer psychosocial resources (e.g., emotion regulation difficulties and lower social support). Further research that draws on pre-incident and longitudinal data will yield important insights into the processes that exacerbate or sustain post-incident psychological symptoms over time and provide important information for crisis preparedness and post-incident mental health interventions.

Race-Related Traumatic Events Online and Mental Health Among Adolescents of Color

“…Studies on the relationship between media coverage of traumatic events and mental health suggest that this spillover effect might extend beyond the local regions where traumatic events occur, as people in other regions are indirectly exposed to the events through media coverage. Researchers have defined indirect exposure in general terms that may include hearing about a traumatic event through a relative or friend and discussing these events [10,11]. They may also include experiences through watching media such as television, listening to the radio, or reading the newspaper, also called vicarious exposure [7] or media exposure [3].…”

A novel surveillance approach for disaster mental health

“…Furthermore, these basic emotions have been shown to be associated with autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses [12]. Most studies in the disaster context however have combined these negative emotional reactions in an affirmative index with higher values being consistently associated with negative consequences of disaster (e.g., PTSD and depression) [13,14]. Therefore, little is known about the differential distributions of multiple dimensions of emotions in the context of disaster.…”

A Descriptive Analysis of School and School Shooter Characteristics and the Severity of School Shootings in the United States, 1999–2018

“…Shootings in school settings have brought substantial media and public attention to this urgent issue. Although school shootings have been characterized as "extremely rare" [2], increased frequency in recent years is resulting in both injuries and fatalities [3,4] as well as trauma [5,6] among U.S. children and adolescents. Research has yet to examine associations between characteristics of schools, shooters, or guns used in these school shootings and injury and fatality outcomes.…”