SBU Child Psychiatry Experts Study Youth Who Make Threats in Schools
AuthorAdministratorREG_DATE2023.03.09Hits350
While previous studies have focused upon identifying potential school shooters, little is known about the mental health and associated characteristics of students who make threats in schools. A study by a team of Stony Brook child psychiatry experts uncovered the wide range of psychiatric diagnoses, learning disorders, educational and treatment needs of this population. The findings are published early online in a paper in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
The research team investigated child and adolescent psychiatry threat assessment evaluations of 157 school-age youth (mean age: 13.4), referred to the Stony Brook University Child and Adolescent Outpatient Clinic (now called the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic at Stony Brook Medicine) by school staff. The children were evaluated at the clinic between 1998 and 2019 and represented 19 school districts encompassing students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.