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  5. The Lasting Impacts of School Shootings on Youth Psychotropic Drug Use

AEA Papers and Proceedings

ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)

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The Lasting Impacts of School Shootings on Youth Psychotropic Drug Use

  • Max Pienkny
  • Maya Rossin-Slater
  • Molly Schnell
  • Hannes Schwandt
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 114, May 2024
(pp. 387–93)
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Abstract

This paper estimates the effects of fatal school shootings on youth psychotropic drug use over the subsequent five and a half years. Using an event study approach that compares trends in drugs prescribed by providers practicing close to a school shooting relative to those practicing slightly farther away, we find that fatal school shootings lead to large increases in youth psychotropic drug use that persist for years after the event. These effects are driven primarily by increases in prescriptions for antidepressants and antipsychotics and are observed among both youths who were previously taking psychotropic medication and those who were not.

Citation

Pienkny, Max, Maya Rossin-Slater, Molly Schnell, and Hannes Schwandt. 2024. "The Lasting Impacts of School Shootings on Youth Psychotropic Drug Use." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 114: 387–93. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20241085

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
  • I12 Health Behavior
  • I21 Analysis of Education
  • J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
  • K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law