Mass Violence and Behavioral Health

Mass violence events expose survivors and witnesses to trauma, whether they experience the event in person, within the community, or through the media.

This issue of the Supplemental Research Bulletin discusses the effects of mass violence events and the sequence of behavioral health reactions after the event in adult and youth survivors. Several key findings are presented:

• Almost all individuals exposed to the event will have immediate symptoms.
• A high percentage of survivors develop resilience and will not suffer long-term consequences.
• A small proportion of survivors will develop long-term symptoms of trauma and require behavioral health intervention.

The issue also sheds light on the behavioral health interventions commonly used after a mass violence event.