Multiple Vantage Points on the Mental Health Effects of Mass Shootings

James M. Shultz, Siri Thoresen, Brian W. Flynn, Glenn W. Muschert, Jon A. Shaw, Zelde Espinel, Frank G. Walter, Joshua B. Gaither, Yanira Garcia-Barcena, Kaitlin O’Keefe, Alyssa M. Cohen

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

The phenomenon of mass shootings has emerged over the past 50 years. A high proportion of rampage shootings have occurred in the United States, and secondarily, in European nations with otherwise low firearm homicide rates; yet, paradoxically, shooting massacres are not prominent in the Latin American nations with the highest firearm homicide rates in the world. A review of the scientific literature from 2010 to early 2014 reveals that, at the individual level, mental health effects include psychological distress and clinically significant elevations in posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety symptoms in relation to the degree of physical exposure and social proximity to the shooting incident. Psychological repercussions extend to the surrounding affected community. In the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting on record, Norway has been in the vanguard of intervention research focusing on rapid delivery of psychological support and services to survivors of the “Oslo Terror.”

Grounded on a detailed review of the clinical literature on the mental health effects of mass shootings, this paper also incorporates wide-ranging co-author expertise to delineate: 1) the patterning of mass shootings within the international context of firearm homicides, 2) the effects of shooting rampages on children and adolescents, 3) the psychological effects for wounded victims and the emergency healthcare personnel who care for them, 4) the disaster behavioral health considerations for preparedness and response, and 5) the media “framing” of mass shooting incidents in relation to the portrayal of mental health themes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number469
JournalCurrent psychiatry reports
Volume16
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2014

Keywords

  • Firearm violence
  • Firearms
  • Gun control
  • Guns
  • Gunshot wounds
  • Homicide
  • Mass shooting
  • Media framing
  • Mental disorders
  • Mental health
  • PTSD
  • Rampage shooting
  • Shooting
  • Shooting massacre
  • Stress disorders/post-traumatic
  • Violence
  • Weapons
  • Workplace violence

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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