Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T12:36:16.931Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The San Diego East County School Shootings: A Qualitative Study of Community-Level Post-traumatic Stress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Lawrence A. Palinkas ,
Erica Prussing ,
Vivian M. Reznik  and
John A. Landsverk
Lawrence A. Palinkas*
Affiliation:
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California-San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
Erica Prussing
Affiliation:
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California-San Diego, San Diego, California, USA Child and Adolescent Services Research Center, Children's Hospital, San Diego, California, USA
Vivian M. Reznik
Affiliation:
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California-San Diego, San Diego, California, USA Department of Pediatrics, University of California-San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
John A. Landsverk
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Services Research Center, Children's Hospital, San Diego, California, USA School of Social Work, San Diego State University, San Diego, California USA
*
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0807USA E-mail: lpalinkas@ucsd.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction:

Within one month (March 2001), two separate incidents of school shootings occurred at two different high schools within the same school district in San Diego's East County.

Objective:

To examine community-wide expressions of post-traumatic distress resulting from the shootings that may or may not fulfill DSM-IV criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but which might interfere with treatment and the prevention of youth violence.

Methods:

A qualitative study was undertaken using Rapid Assessment Procedures (RAP) in four East San Diego County communities over a six-month period following the two events. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 85 community residents identified through a maximum variation sampling technique. Interview transcripts were analyzed by coding consensus, co-occurrence, and comparison, using text analysis software.

Results:

Three community-wide patterns of response to the two events were identified: (1) 52.9% of respondents reported intrusive reminders of the trauma associated with intense media coverage and subsequent rumors, hoaxes, and threats of additional acts of school violence; (2) 44.7% reported efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, conversations, or places (i.e., schools) associated with the events; negative assessment of media coverage; and belief that such events in general cannot be prevented; and (3) 30.6% reported anger, hyper-vigilance, and other forms of increased arousal. Twenty-three (27.1%) respondents reported symptoms of fear, anxiety, depression, drug use, and psychosomatic symptoms in themselves or others.

Conclusions:

School shootings can precipitate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder at the community level. Such symptoms hinder the treatment of individuals with PTSD and the implementation of effective prevention strategies and programs.

Keywords

communitiespost-traumatic stressqualitative methodsrapid assessment proceduresschoolsshootingsyouth violence
Type
Special Reports
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 19 , Special Issue 1: Psychosocial Themes , March 2004 , pp. 113 - 121
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

references

1.Anderson, M, Kaufman, J, Simon, TR, et al. : School-associated violent deaths in the United States, 1994-1999. JAMA 2001;286:2695–2702.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Pynoos, RS, Frederick, C, Nader, K, et al. : Life threat and post-traumatic stress in school-age children. Arch of Gen Psychiatry 1987;44:1057–1063.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Nader, K, Pynoos, RS, Fairbanks, L, et al. : Children's PTSD reactions one year after a sniper attack at their school. Amer J of Psychiatry 1990;47:1526–1530.Google Scholar
4.Schwarz, ED, Kowalski, JM: Malignant memories: PTSD in children and adults after a school shooting. J Amer Acad of Child and Adolesc Psychiatry 1991;30:936–944.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Vila, G, Porche, LM, Mouren-Simeoni, MC: An 18-month longitudinal study of post-traumatic disorders in children who were taken hostage in their school. Psychosomatic Med 1999;61:746–754.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Kostinsky, S, Bixler, EO, Kettl, PA: Threats of school violence in Pennsylvania after media coverage of the Columbine High School massacre. Arch of Ped and Adolesc Med 2001;155:994–1001.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Sloan, IH, Rozensky, RH, Kaplan, L, et al. : A shooting incident in an elementary school: Effects of worker stress on public safety, mental health and medical personnel. J of Traumatic Stress 1994;7:565–574.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Hobfoll, SE: The Ecology of Stress. Washington, DC: Hemisphere, 1988.Google Scholar
9.Arata, CM, Picou, JS, Johnson, GD, et al. : Coping with technological disaster: An application of the conservation of resources model to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. J Traumatic Stress 2000;13:23–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Freedy, JR, Shaw, DL, Jarnell, MP, et al. : Towards an understanding of the psychological impact of natural disasters: An application of the conservation of resources stress model. J Traumatic Stress 1992;5:441–455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Freedy, JR, Saladin, ME, Kilpatrick, DG, et al. : Understanding acute psychological distress following natural disaster. J Traumatic Stress 1994;7:257–273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Freudenberg, WR, Jones, TR: Attitudes and stress in the presence of technological risks: Towards a sociological perspective. Social Forces 1991;69:1143–1168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Kleinman, A: Writing at the Margin: Discourse Between Anthropology and Medicine. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995.Google Scholar
14.Young, A: The Harmony of Illusions: Inventing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.Google Scholar
15.Freudenberg, WR: Contamination, corrosion, and the social order: An overview. Current Sociology 1997;45:19–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Palinkas, LA, Downs, MA, Petterson, JS, et al. : Social, cultural and psychological impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Human Organization 1993;52:1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Scrimshaw, SCM, Hurtado, E: Rapid Assessment Procedures for Nutrition and Primary Health Care. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications, 1987.Google Scholar
18.Harris, KJ, Jerome, NW, Fawcett, SB: Rapid assessment procedures: A review and critique. Human Organization 1997;56:375–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Guba, EG, Lincoln, YS: Fourth Generation Evaluation. Newbury Park, CA:Sage, 1989.Google Scholar
20.Patton, MQ: Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods, 2nd ed.Newbury Park, CA: Sage 1990.Google Scholar
21.Bernard, HR: Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology. Newbury Park, CA:Sage, 1988.Google Scholar
22.Willms, DG, Best, JA, Taylor, DW, et al. : A systematic approach for using qualitative methods in primary prevention research. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 1992;4:391–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Strauss, AL: Qualitative Analysis for the Social Scientist. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Fraser, D: QSR NVivo NUS*IST Vivo Reference Guide. Melbourne: QSR International, 2000.Google Scholar
25.American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994.Google Scholar
26.Thornton, K: New threats raise alarm. San Diego Union Tribune, 09 March 2001:A1,A23.Google Scholar
27.Chacon, DJ: New shooting threat limits attendance at Santana High School. San Diego Union Tribune, 10 November 2001:B3.Google Scholar
28.Chacon, DJ: Granite Hills gunman kills self. San Diego Union Tribune, 30 October 2001:B1.Google Scholar
29.US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General: Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General. Washington, DC:Government Printing Office, 2001.Google Scholar
30.Palinkas, LA, Pickwell, SM, Brandstein, KM, et al. : The journey to wellness: Stages of refugee health promotion and disease prevention. J Immigrant Health 2003;5(1):19–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed