The Lasting Impacts of School Shootings on Youth Psychotropic Drug Use

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 antid epressants and antipsychotics and are observed among both youths who were previously taking psychotropic medication and those who were not.