RecruitingNCT06153316

School Violence Exposure as an Adverse Childhood Experience

School Violence Exposure as an Adverse Childhood Experience: a Nationwide Study of K- 12 School Responses to Violence and Their Impact on Youth Mental Health and Educational Outcomes

Sponsor

Teachers College, Columbia University

Enrollment

2,500 participants

Start Date

Apr 26, 2024

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Conditions

Adverse Childhood Experiences Mental Health Outcomes Perceived School Safety Educational Outcomes

Summary

This study hypothesize that school safety strategies may contribute to poor mental health and distress among various school populations and proposes the following research questions to be answered through this study: 1. Is there a significant difference in the prevalence of mental health outcomes, perceived school safety, and academic engagement between early adolescent and adolescent students (grades 6 - 12) at schools that have experienced a school shooting and those that have not? 2. Are existing interventions to promote school safety and security associated with poor mental health outcomes among students and school staff? 3. Does the strength of this association between school safety interventions and mental health outcomes differ among students and teachers in those schools who have experienced a school shooting versus among students and teachers in those schools who never experienced a school shooting? And, among our sample of students, are these associations moderated by their ACE history? Participants will be asked to self-report data on their mental health and wellness, and perceived school safety through a survey. Researchers will compare the surveys from the participants from exposure schools (those who experienced a gun shooting incident) with surveys from the participants from non-exposure schools (those who have not experienced a gun shooting incident)

Eligibility

Min Age: 11 YearsMax Age: 65 Years

Inclusion Criteria11

For a school to be considered for participation, it should meet all the following criteria:
The school must consent to participate in the study.
Gun shooting incident
For exposure schools: Must have experienced a gun shooting incident between 1/1/2015-12/31/2022 .
For non-exposure schools: there should not have been a gun shooting incident between 1/1/2011-12/31/2022.
Must have the student population of interest that is middle through grade 12, and-
For exposure schools: At least one grade that experienced the shooting should still be studying at the school.
For non-exposure schools: must have the same grade levels as the pair-matched case school and none of them should have been exposed to any gun shooting incident at that school.
Must be a public school.
All non-public schools (e.g., private, charter, parochial schools) and schools outside of the middle-12 range (e.g. daycares, only elementary, preschools, and universities) are not eligible for the study.
Principals: Must be the current Principal of the participating school. Teachers: Must be a current teacher at the participating school. Students: Must be a current student at the participating school studying in grades 6-12.

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Interventions

OTHERSchool shooting incident

The school has experienced a gun shooting incident within the past 2 years of the study (for 3 case schools) and prior to 2 years (for 3 case schools). Incidents where a gun was displayed but no shot was fired, or where a shot was fired by police or security officer will not be included.