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Local exposure to school shootings and youth antidepressant use

Author

Listed:
  • Maya Rossin-Slater

    (Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305; National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA 02138)

  • Molly Schnell

    (National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA 02138; Department of Economics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208)

  • Hannes Schwandt

    (National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA 02138; School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208)

  • Sam Trejo

    (La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706; Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706)

  • Lindsey Uniat

    (Department of Economics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511)

Abstract

While over 240,000 American students experienced a school shooting in the last two decades, little is known about the impacts of these events on the mental health of surviving youth. Using large-scale prescription data from 2006 to 2015, we examine the effects of 44 school shootings on youth antidepressant use. Our empirical strategy compares the number of antidepressant prescriptions written by providers practicing 0 to 5 miles from a school that experienced a shooting (treatment areas) to the number of prescriptions written by providers practicing 10 to 15 miles away (reference areas), both before and after the shooting. We include month-by-year and school-by-area fixed effects in all specifications, thereby controlling for overall trends in antidepressant use and all time-invariant differences across locations. We find that local exposure to fatal school shootings increases youth antidepressant use by 21.4% in the following 2 y. These effects are smaller in areas with a higher density of mental health providers who focus on behavioral, rather than pharmacological, interventions.

Suggested Citation

  • Maya Rossin-Slater & Molly Schnell & Hannes Schwandt & Sam Trejo & Lindsey Uniat, 2020. "Local exposure to school shootings and youth antidepressant use," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(38), pages 23484-23489, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:117:y:2020:p:23484-23489
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    Cited by:

    1. Jetter, Michael & Walker, Jay K., 2022. "News coverage and mass shootings in the US," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    2. Tushar Bharati & Thea Harpley Green, 2021. "Age at school transition and children’s cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 21-06, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    3. Robert John Zagar & James Garbarino & Brad Randmark & Ishup Singh & Joseph Kovach & Emma Cenzon & Michael Benko & Steve Tippins & Kenneth G. Busch, 2022. "Study 1: 630 Domestic-Terrorist, Mass-Murdering, Spree-Shooters Differ from 623 Controls and Study 2: 15 Domestic-Terrorist, Mass-Murdering, Spree-Shooters Differ From 23 Homicidal and 36 Controls on the Standard Predictor of Violence Potential and t," Review of European Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(1), pages 1-54, March.
    4. Marika Cabral & Bokyung Kim & Maya Rossin-Slater & Molly Schnell & Hannes Schwandt, 2026. "Trauma at School: The Impacts of Shootings on Students’ Human Capital and Economic Outcomes," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 93(1), pages 327-365.
    5. Han Choi & Adriana Corredor-Waldron & Janet Currie & Chris Felton, 2025. "What Can Trends in Emergency Department Visits Tell Us About Child Mental Health?," NBER Working Papers 33550, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Alloush, Mo & Bloem, Jeffrey R., 2022. "Neighborhood violence, poverty, and psychological well-being," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    7. Asadullah, M. Niaz & Tham, Eric, 2023. "Learning and happiness during Covid-19 school closure in urban Malaysia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    8. Gunadi, Christian, 2021. "On the Tragedy of Mass Shooting: the Crime Effects," GLO Discussion Paper Series 951, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Partha Deb & Anjelica Gangaram, 2024. "The effects of school shootings on risky behavior, health, and human capital," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(1), pages 1-28, March.
    10. Muñoz-Morales, Juan & Singh, Ruchi, 2023. "Do school shootings erode property values?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    11. Michael Pollmann, 2020. "Causal Inference for Spatial Treatments," Papers 2011.00373, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2026.
    12. Gonzalez, Felipe & Prem, Mounu, 2020. "Police Repression and Protest Behavior: Evidence from Student Protests in Chile," SocArXiv 3xk5r, Center for Open Science.
    13. Bharadwaj, Prashant & Bhuller, Manudeep & Løken, Katrine V. & Wentzel, Mirjam, 2021. "Surviving a mass shooting," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    14. Karsten Schweikert & Manuel Huth & Mark Gius, 2021. "Detecting a copycat effect in school shootings using spatio‐temporal panel count models," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(4), pages 719-736, October.
    15. Mirza, Daniel & Stancanelli, Elena & Verdier, Thierry, 2022. "Household expenditure in the wake of terrorism: Evidence from high frequency in-home-scanner data," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    16. repec:oup:qjecon:v:136:y:2021:i:1:p:115-168. is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Aparna Soni & Erdal Tekin, 2020. "How Do Mass Shootings Affect Community Wellbeing?," NBER Working Papers 28122, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Kritee Gujral & Alice M. Ellyson & Ali Rowhani‐Rahbar & Frederick Rivara, 2023. "The community impact of school‐shootings on stress‐related emergency department visits," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(3), pages 455-470, July.
    19. Rakesh Banerjee & Tushar Bharati, 2020. "Mass shootings and Infant Health in the United States," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 20-16, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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