School Violence Exposure as an Adverse Childhood Experience

NCT06153316 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 21-419
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 2,500
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief 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. 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. 2.Are existing interventions to promote school safety and security associated with poor mental health outcomes among students and school staff?
3. 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.

Conditions

Mental Health Outcomes; Adverse Childhood Experiences; Perceived School Safety; Educational Outcomes

Keywords

School gun violence, School safety, mental health, ACEs

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (6)

• Mental Health of students

  Self-reported data on mental health assessed via a survey that is comprised of 16 items on a 5-point likert scale

  through survey completion, an average of 6 months

• Mental Health of Staff

  Self-reported data on mental health assessed via a survey that is comprised of 16 items on a five point likert scale

  through survey completion, an average of 6 months

• Well-being of Students

  Self-reported data on mental health assessed via a survey that is comprised of 5 items

  through survey completion, an average of 6 months

• Well-being of Staff

  Self-reported data on mental health assessed via a survey that is comprised of 5 items

  through survey completion, an average of 6 months

• Adverse Childhood Experiences

  Self-report data through survey on bullying, residential instability, Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement, meeting of basic needs, parents divorced, death of a primary caregiver, family member with poor mental health, family member engaging in substance use, domestic violence, incarcerated parent, community violence, death of friend(s), experience with the foster care system, experience with the juvenile justice system, and exposure to violence in school

  through survey completion, an average of 6 months

• Positive Childhood Experiences

  Self-report data through survey on family relationships and support, guidance, safety, belongingness

  through survey completion, an average of 6 months

Secondary Outcomes (6)

• Perceived safety by students

  through survey completion, an average of 6 months

• Perceived safety by staff

  through survey completion, an average of 6 months

• Belongingness by Students

  through survey completion, an average of 6 months

• Belongingness by Staff

  through survey completion, an average of 6 months

• Educational Outcomes

  through survey completion, an average of 6 months

Study Arms (2)

Exposure Schools

From the dataset that matches study criteria, randomly select three K-12 schools that have recently experienced mass violence or attempted mass violence (\< two years prior) and three K-12 schools that have experienced mass violence or attempted mass violence less recently (\> two years ago). Students, teachers and principals of these schools will be eligible to participate.

Other: School shooting incident

Non-exposure schools

For the study, the non-exposure schools will be matched to exposure schools on five key variables: state, urban/non-urban, school type (public/private), school level (elementary/middle/high), and school size, and selected from the complete database of K-12 schools across the United states. Students, teachers and principals of these schools will be eligible to participate.

Interventions

School shooting incident OTHER

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.

Exposure Schools

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 11 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

For the purpose of this study, students, teachers, and principals will be recruited from 6 randomly selected exposure K-12 schools and 6 randomly selected non-exposure schools matched with the exposure schools across the United States. Students. Within each participating school, all students between grades 6-12 will be eligible for and invited to participate in this study. Teachers. Within each participating school, all teachers will be eligible for and invited to participate in this study. Principals. The current principal of each school will be eligible for and invited to participate in this study.

You may qualify if:

• 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.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Teachers College, Columbia University: lead
• Columbia University: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Teachers College, Columbia University

New York, New York, 10027, United States

RECRUITING

Related Publications (1)

• Rajan S, Buttar N, Ladhani Z, Caruso J, Allegrante JP, Branas C. School Violence Exposure as an Adverse Childhood Experience: Protocol for a Nationwide Study of Secondary Public Schools. JMIR Res Protoc. 2024 Aug 28;13:e56249. doi: 10.2196/56249.

  PMID: 39196631 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal Satisfaction; Behavior

Central Study Contacts

Sonali Rajan

CONTACT

212-678-3458; sr2345@tc.columbia.edu

Charles Branas

CONTACT

212-305-8755; c.branas@columbia.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor of Health Education, Senior Associate Director, Edmund W. Gordon Institute for Urban and Minority Education

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 18, 2023
• First Posted: December 1, 2023
• Study Start: April 26, 2024
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2025
• Study Completion: December 1, 2025
• Last Updated: September 16, 2025

Record last verified: 2024-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)