570 - Parent and youth concern about school shootings and connections with youth well-being and stress

Poster Number: 570
Publication Number: 570.2067

Background: Most US parents and youth worry about shootings occurring in common places, such as schools. Research has demonstrated that concern about school shootings was associated with internalizing problems among adolescents. Although past research has shown connections between youth concern about school shootings and increased mental health symptoms, less is known about how youth concern about school shootings is associated with youth well-being and subclinical mental health factors such as stress.

Objective: To characterize the level of concern about school shootings among Chicago parents and their children, and to understand how youth concern was associated with their well-being and stress.

Design/Methods: Survey data were collected through the Voices of Child Health in Chicago Parent Panel Survey, administered in English and Spanish via web and phone to parents from all 77 neighborhoods in Chicago from October to November 2022. Parents were eligible if they had at least one child < 17 years old in the household. Parents reported their own and their children’s level of concern about school shootings, youth stress, and well-being. Means difference tests were used to compare youth stress and well-being across different levels of school shooting concern. Data were weighted to be representative of Chicago parents.

Results: Over half of parents reported that they were worried about the possibility of a shooting at their children’s school or daycare (36% very worried, 31% somewhat worried), 22% of parents were not too worried, and 11% of parents were not worried at all. Nearly half of parents reported that their children were concerned about the possibility of a shooting in their school (19% very worried, 21% somewhat worried), 32% said their children were not too worried and 28% said their children were not at all worried. Well-being scores were lower for youth who were very worried about school shootings (m=3.40), somewhat worried (m=3.41), and not too worried (m=3.36), compared with youth who were not at all worried (m=3.95; p<.01). Youth stress scores were higher among youth were very worried (m=2.29), somewhat worried (m= 2.30) and those who were not too worried (m=2.22) compared with youth who were not at all worried (m=1.87; p<.05).

Conclusion(s): Parents reported high levels of concern about school shootings for themselves and their children. Child concern was associated with worse social-emotional outcomes even at relatively low levels of concern.