Caregivers' Mental Health Responses to a Mass School Shooting Event at Their Children's School

Background: Since the Columbine shooting of 1999, there have been almost 400 school shootings, killing or injuring hundreds of students, exposing 360,000 students to psychological wounds caused by gun violence, and leaving countless families and communities devastated in their wake. Since 2017 the spike in school shootings has continued, with each year bringing a new record for mass school shootings. There is little available data on the direct impact of school shootings on families and communities. The data that are available document PTSD levels ranging from 65-85%, exposed students having lower educational attainment and lifetime earnings, and traumatized communities with economic disadvantages that last for years. Caregivers of students exposed to school shootings hold a unique position as the primary source of support for their children, are crucial to healing for children and often the community, affected by school shootings. The purpose of this study was to understand caregivers’ mental health responses to these events and the contextual factors that contributed to their reported outcomes, from the perspectives of the caregivers themselves. Methods: Using a Straussian Grounded Theory approach we sought to examine the lived experiences of caregivers whose child(ren) had been present during a mass public high school shooting in a suburban midwestern town. Since this population is historically hard to reach, purposeful snowball sampling was used to recruit and interview 27 caregivers, 4 fathers and 23 mothers, through social media. Results: Caregivers described a range of mental health symptoms following the school shooting, including anxiety, depression, re-experiencing, avoidance, flashbacks, numbing, and hypervigilance, lasting for one year or longer. Numerous physical/somatic complaints were reported-weight change, hair loss, stomach issues, headaches, brain fog, sleep disturbance, and thyroid disorders. Existential concerns-loss of a sense of safety, general mistrust, and feeling betrayed by the school were also identified. Caregivers identified several factors that contributed to their responses such as their degree of exposure to the shooting, inability to identify what they or their child(ren) needed following the shooting, difficulty accessing resources to facilitate their family’s healing, community cohesion, and media portrayals of the event. Conclusion: Caregivers of children affected by school shootings are an integral part of the healing process for their children and community; and experience significant and persistent adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Therefore, it is crucial that we understand the ways in which they are impacted and the factors that contribute to, and buffer, the negative effects of school gun violence on caregivers. Future research should further examine facilitators and barriers to healing for this population to create effective individual, family, and community interventions following mass gun violence. Research should continue to incorporate the voices of affected individuals and communities and to utilize knowledge of their identified needs as a guide to resource allocation, policy recommendations, and intervention/program evaluation. Mass school shootings create widespread challenges extending beyond those killed/injured. The profound impact of school-based gun violence requires a comprehensive approach, with interventions, programs, and policy aiming to improve the lives of individuals, families and communities who experience it.