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APA MONITOR NAMED TOP ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE BY AM&P • SEPTEMBER 2022
psychology
monitor on GST# R127612802
THE
ONGOING
TRAUMA
OF GUN
VIOLENCE
PAGE 20
PLUS
MENTAL HEALTH
AND THE RIGHT
TO ABORTION
PAGE 40
VIOLENCE AGAINST
EDUCATORS
PAGE 30
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FIGHT CENSORSHIP
Celebrating ENGAGE
Promote Your Research
APA’s Banned Books Looking for ways to increase the
visibility and impact of your research
B
anned Books Week, held each year the last week of September, celebrates publications? APA has teamed up with
the freedom to read and draws attention to how destructive and divi- Kudos, a free service that makes it easy
sive censorship can be. Many of the books from APA’s award-winning for authors to build a larger audience for
children’s book imprint, Magination Press, are frequently challenged or banned, their published research and maximize
including one that even made the American Library Association’s (ALA) Top 10 and track their readership and citations.
Most Challenged Books list in 2020: Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Learn more at www.apa.org/pubs/authors/kudos.
Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, PhD, Marietta Collins, PhD,
and Ann Hazzard, PhD, which describes a police shooting of a Black man.
ELECTION
Another Magination Press banned book, This Day in June by Gayle Pitman,
PhD, APA’s first children’s book featuring sexual orientation and gender diver- Vote for APA’s President Elect
sity, appeared on the ALA Top 11 Most Challenged Books list in 2018. Pitman’s APA members have nominated Kirk J.
groundbreaking book “created a pathway for other LGBTQ+ books for kids Schneider, PhD, Cynthia de las Fuentes,
that are positive, joyful, and celebratory,” said Michael Genhart, PhD, a clinical PhD, Diana L. Prescott, PhD, and Beth N.
psychologist who counts it among his favorite banned books. Genhart has pub- Rom-Rymer, PhD, to run for APA’s 2024
lished two LGBTQ+ themed picture books of his own with Magination Press presidency. The four candidates will be
that find themselves targeted, including Rainbow: A First Book of Pride. His hope responding to six questions from APA
is that this year’s surge in book banning leads to something more constructive. boards and committees throughout the
“Controversy invites conversation,” said Genhart. “So, despite being very troubled summer. Voting begins Sept. 15. The bal-
by banned lists, my hope is that when any of my books ends up on them what lot will also list two slates of candidates
happens is productive dialogue, incrementally moving the needle forward toward for APA’s Board of Directors.
equity and inclusion.” Send questions about the election to
Find the full list of Magination Press titles at www.apa.org/pubs/magination. elections@apa.org.
2 M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022
monitor on
i psychology
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M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022 3
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Features SEPTEMBER 2022
COVER STORY
THE ONGOING TRAUMA OF GUN VIOLENCE
The regularity of mass shootings is razing Americans’ mental health—
heightening stress and dulling compassion in ways that demand broader
concern, engagement, and change. The ongoing backdrop of violence is also
steadily eroding a sense of well-being and safety for children and teens.
See page 20
54 ADVANCES IN
UNDERSTANDING
AND MANAGING PAIN
As the public health crises
of chronic pain and opioid
dependence loom large,
psychologists are using new
treatments and interventions
to help patients manage
chronic pain.
62 MAKING COMMUNITY
COLLEGE WORK FOR
PSYCHOLOGY MAJORS
Psychology students transi-
tioning from 2- to 4-year col- ON THE COVER
leges can’t compete, and the A woman and man mourn those killed when a shooter opened fire into a
field loses valuable diversity. crowd of spectators at this year's Fourth of July parade in Highland Park,
Partnerships between schools Illinois.
can help prepare students and
bridge the gap.
O N T H E C O V E R : P H O T O B Y J A M I E K E LT E R D AV I S / T H E N E W Y O R K T I M E S
M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022 5
Departments SEPTEMBER 2022
Hometown predicts
navigation skills. Page 16
2 @APA: THE HOT LIST
10 PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
12 UPDATE FROM THE CEO
RESEARCH
13 IN BRIEF
88 BY THE NUMBERS
NEWS
26 TRAUMA TREATMENT IN UVALDE
30 AFRAID TO WORK AT SCHOOL
34 A BETTER START FOR TEEN DRIVERS
47 JUDICIAL NOTEBOOK
PEOPLE
45 5 QUESTIONS FOR RAVI PRASAD
78 PSYCHOLOGISTS IN THE NEWS
CE CORNER
48 HELPING PATIENTS WHO HAVE
EXPERIENCED SEXUAL ASSAULT
RESTRICTING ACCESS
CAREER
79 COPING WITH A PATIENT’S SUICIDE THE FACTS ABOUT ABORTION AND
EMPLOYMENTS ADS MENTAL HEALTH
84 THE BEST JOBS IN PSYCHOLOGY Research shows that people who are denied abortions have worse physical and
mental health, as well as worse economic outcomes than those who seek and
receive them. The most commonly felt emotion following an abortion is relief,
rather than deep regret or grief. See page 40
Violence against educators. Page 30 Helping new drivers. Page 34 Facing a patient suicide. Page 79
6 M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022
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From the President
TIME MATTERS
Lessons from the past can help us approach difficult periods with hope for the future
BY FRANK C. WORRELL, PHD
Are you looking at the world with despair or are you hopeful Some of these events inspire hope;
about your future? Are you more oriented to the past, the others are cause for despair. The speed
present, or the future? And how do you feel about the three with which the COVID-19 vaccines
were developed was due to earlier work
time periods? All these questions speak to the construct
conducted on AIDS and other infec-
of time perspective in the larger field of what is some- tious diseases, reminding us of the
times called temporal psychology. Although measured time importance of supporting science and
plays an important role in the modern world, psychological how good work in the past can contrib-
time—our subjective feelings about the passage of time—is ute to the present. Similarly, the Jan.
also quite important. Esteemed developmental psychologists Erik Erikson and 6 insurrection is a potent lesson that
Jean Piaget mentioned time perspective in their theoretical formulations. democracy cannot be taken for granted
and needs ongoing work and attention.
Much of the research on time is Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, I continue to be hopeful about what we
focused on the future and there are stud- and the first pictures from the Webb tele- can achieve if we can work together and
ies of constructs such as expectations, scope. These are only some of the events put the good of society and the planet at
future orientation, hope, optimism, per- to be memorialized in the history books. the forefront. n
ceived life chances, and possible selves.
There is also a growing recognition that
research needs to pay attention to both
the present and the past to fully under-
stand human functioning. Many of us fail
to recognize some of the most frequently
referenced psychological constructs have
time components. For example, self-es-
teem is present-oriented and self-efficacy
connects present actions with future
outcomes.
Why the focus on time? In the past 2
and a half years, we have had a series of
momentous events: A global pandemic,
a major war in Europe, an attack on the
U.S. Capitol, the confirmation of the first
NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI VIA AP
● Frank C. Worrell, PhD, is the 2022
APA president and director of the School
Psychology Program in the Graduate
School of Education at the University of
California, Berkeley. Follow him on Twitter:
@FrankCWorrell. Galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope on July 11.
8 M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022STUDENT LOAN REFINANCING You could save thousands on your student loans1 Using the link below APA members get a 0.25% rate discount2 when refinancing. To learn more and access this offer online, visit LaurelRoad.com/APA At Laurel Road, we recognize the dedication it takes to be a phsychologist. That’s why we’ve created an easy online experience with low rates, personalized service, and technology that makes refinancing student debt easier – so you can focus on the future, not your past. All credit products are subject to credit approval. If you are refinancing any federal student loans with Laurel Road, you will no longer be able to take advantage of any federal benefits, including but not limited to: COVID-19 payment relief, Income Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), or Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE), and Public Service Loan Forgiveness(PSLF). For more information about the benefits of these federal programs and other federal student loan programs, please visit https://studentaid.gov. 1. Savings vary based on rate and term of your existing and refinanced loan(s). Refinancing to a longer term may lower your monthly payments, but may also increase the total interest paid over the life of the loan. Refinancing to a shorter term may increase your monthly payments, but may lower the total interest paid over the life of the loan. Review your loan documentation for total cost of your refinanced loan. 2. The 0.25% American Psychological Association (APA) member interest rate discount is offered on new student loan refinance applications from active APA members. The APA discount is applied to your monthly payment and will be reflected in your billing statement. The discount will end if the APA notifies Laurel Road that the borrower is no longer a member. This offer cannot be combined with other member or employee discounts. Laurel Road is a brand of KeyBank National Association. All products offered by KeyBank N.A. Member FDIC. © 2022 KeyCorp® All Rights Reserved. Laurel Road is a federally registered service mark of KeyCorp. 2022_APA_Feb_Print
From the CEO
HOW PSYCHOLOGY CAN
PROVIDE SOLUTIONS
As the world faces problems based in human behavior, effectively communicating our
science is critical for the field
BY ARTHUR C. EVANS JR., PhD
In over 30 years of being a psychologist, I have never their limited understanding of psy-
witnessed so many pressing societal issues playing chology’s breadth means that our field
is often overlooked in these requests
out at one time—the rapid spread of misinformation,
and, therefore, left out of solutions.
incomprehensible rates of gun violence, rising levels of If decision-makers are aware of our
mental health challenges, and ongoing systemic racism, research, they can use it to inform policy.
to name only a few. In taking on these issues, it can be You can also enhance your ability to
discuss your work with others, par-
easy to mistake their complexity as intractability. How-
ticularly those less comfortable with
ever, my experience as a policymaker has taught me that even the greatest psychological or scientific vernacular.
challenges can be solved with the right partnerships and compilation of For example, science communication
knowledge. trainings, like those APA offers through
the Alan Alda Center, not only help
Psychology—as the science of human There are ways we can help to ensure individual psychologists engage others in
behavior and its underlying processes— that psychological expertise is translated their work, but they also contribute to a
can play a prominent role in addressing effectively to share with those who need broader culture of scientific literacy.
these challenges. It is, in large part, our it. For instance, you can get involved The world is seeking solutions.
responsibility as a field to ensure that in federal, state, and local advocacy. From wherever you sit within the field
psychological knowledge meaning- Policymakers typically seek data and of psychology, you have the power to
fully impacts the larger issues we care information to guide their decisions, but contribute. n
about and the communities we serve.
Basic research on models of learning
can inform the development of socially Psychological research
can guide policy that
appropriate and ethical artificial intelli- aims to help children
gence. The science of social motivation lead healthier lives.
and persuasion can be infused into global
collective climate change solutions. The
understanding of functional brain devel-
opment can shape policies around issues
such as school start times and use of
social media among children.
INSIDE CREATIVE HOUSE/GETTY IMAGES
● Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, is the chief
executive officer of APA. Follow him on
Twitter: @ArthurCEvans.
10 M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022TIME TO
RENEW...
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opportunities.
Get the latest research and information across
psychology, the career development tools you
need, and the advocacy you want — especially now.
Renew online today at:
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M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● APRIL 2022 11New and Upcoming from APA Books
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Order Today at BKS.APA.ORG/APAMONITOR-SEP22In Brief
Research COMPILED BY CHRIS PALMER
College student
Jennifer Estrada
WANG YING XINHUA/EYEVINE/REDU X
participates in
a rally for gun
control following
a 2019 shooting in
El Paso, Texas.
MASS SHOOTINGS AND GUN LAW ATTITUDES
M
ass shootings increase people’s sup- that gun ownership reduces crime, causal attribu-
port of stricter gun laws, but only if tions about the shootings, and attitudes toward
they attribute the shootings to the gun control. They found that across both shoot-
availability of guns, suggests new research in ings, being politically conservative and owning a
Psychology of Violence. Following mass shoot- gun positively predicted a belief that widespread
ings in Orlando in 2016 and El Paso in 2019, gun ownership reduces crime, which subsequently
researchers surveyed 1,756 and 910 participants, predicted less blaming of gun availability for mass
respectively, in those communities and assessed shootings and less support for stricter gun laws.
their political orientation, gun ownership, belief DOI: 10.1037/vio0000431
M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022 13In Brief
PREJUDICE AND discrimination against immi- ORGANIZED MINDS FEND
EVOLUTION DOUBT grants and LGBTQ individuals. OFF DECLINE
Low belief in human evolu- Three additional studies with People who are organized, with
tion is associated with greater people in 19 East European People who are high levels of self-discipline, may
prejudice and racism, according countries, 25 Muslim countries, organized, with be less likely to develop mild
high levels of
to research in the Journal of and Israel indicated that low self-discipline, cognitive impairment (MCI) as
Personality and Social Psy- belief in evolution was associ- may be less they age, while people who are
chology. Across eight studies ated with higher in-group biases, likely to develop moody or emotionally unstable
mild cognitive
with 60,703 participants in 45 prejudicial attitudes toward impairment as are more likely to experience
countries, researchers assessed out-groups, and less support for they age. cognitive decline late in life,
people’s belief in evolution and conflict resolution. Three final according to research in the
their prejudices against and studies conducted online showed Journal of Personality and Social
hostility toward out-groups. that participants’ perceived Psychology. Researchers assessed
In two studies, they found that similarity to animals partially personality and cognitive perfor-
people in the United States mediated the link between belief mance of 1,954 participants in a
RUDZHAN NAGIEV/GETTY IMAGES
who tend not to believe in evo- in evolution and prejudice, even longitudinal study of older adults
lution express more prejudice, when controlling for religious without a formal dementia diag-
racist attitudes, and militaris- beliefs, political views, and other nosis in the United States. They
tic attitudes toward political demographic variables. found that participants who
out-groups and support of DOI: 10.1037/pspi0000391 scored high for conscientiousness
14 M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022lived 2 years longer without a demonstrated that the negative response to stress, more passive
decline in cognitive function effects of neutrality arise only behavior, and memory deficits
than those who were less consci- when staying above the fray compared with 37 animals con-
entious. Those who scored lower appeared strategic. ceived just days after the smoke
for neuroticism and higher in DOI: 10.1037/xge0001201 had dissipated. The researchers
extraversion were more likely to hypothesize the deficits arose
regain normal cognitive func- WILDFIRE SMOKE IMPAIRS from chlorinated hydrocarbons
tion following a diagnosis of DEVELOPMENT in the smoke that impaired fetal
MCI, reflecting the cognitive Research in Nature Communi- adrenal development.
benefits of social interactions cations suggests that pregnant DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29436-9
and suggesting those personality women’s exposure to wildfire
traits may protect against neural smoke may elicit adverse DEPRESSION FOLLOWS
decline. behavioral and physiological DISASTERS
DOI: 10.1037/pspp0000418 consequences in their developing According to a study in PLOS
fetuses. Researchers examined 52 Pregnant women’s Climate, people who have expe-
NEUTRALITY NOT A rhesus macaque monkeys aged 3 exposure to wildfire rienced a natural disaster in
smoke may elicit
WINNING STRATEGY to 4 months whose mothers were adverse behavioral
their community are at higher
According to research in the exposed to wildfire smoke from and physiological risk of depression, with certain
Journal of Experimental Psychol- California’s 2018 Camp Fire consequences in their individuals being particularly
developing fetuses.
ogy: General, political neutrality during the first third of gestation. susceptible. Researchers ana-
is often interpreted as strate- The exposed infants had greater lyzed data on depression onset
gically concealed opposition, inflammation, blunted cortisol for a nationally representative
and it can harm trust and erode
cooperation even compared
with directly opposing some-
one else’s viewpoint. In the first
of two online studies with 731
participants, researchers showed
that across a variety of hypo-
thetical scenarios, people who
opted not to take sides on an
issue seemed liberal in front
of a conservative audience but
conservative in front of a liberal
audience. Two in-person studies
with 487 participants indicated
that staying on the fence was
interpreted as tacit disagree-
ment, while in another three
studies with 1,403 participants,
not taking a side engendered
distrust. An additional study
with 548 online participants
indicated that explaining one’s
DAVEMANTEL/GETTY IMAGES
reason for not picking a side can
sometimes mitigate the costs of
taking a neutral stance. Two final
studies with 1,024 participants
M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022 15In Brief
mental states, donated more
money than people with lower
mentalizing ability. Within
the high mentalizer group,
increased cortisol corresponded
to decreased donations. Cortisol
had no effect on low mentaliz-
ers. Prior to the stressful public
speaking task, high mentalizers’
donations could be predicted by
activity in the dorsolateral pre-
frontal cortex (DLPFC), a brain
sample of 17,255 South African Performance was measured by region involved in social deci-
adults who were depression-free the length of the route players sion-making. However, higher
at the beginning of the study. took. The researchers found that levels of cortisol following the
They found that 2,986 partici- younger and more educated play- stressful task disrupted this link,
Growing up in rural
pants (17%) were exposed to a ers were better at the game, and or suburban areas suggesting stress reduced the
natural disaster during the study, men were better than women. may give people a neural representation of dona-
leg up in navigation
which ran from 2008 to 2017. Where the players grew up was tions in the DLPFC.
skills even decades
Increased cumulative community the largest predictor of naviga- later compared with DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1870-21.2022
disaster experience was linked tional skills: Those who spent people who grew up
in cities.
to higher likelihood of depres- their childhood in high-entropy PERSON EQUALS MAN
sion onset. This link was stronger areas performed better than According to reporting in Science
for women, Black Africans, and those whose childhood cities Advances, a linguistic analysis
groups with lower education and were more gridlike and orderly. of billions of webpages found
lower income. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04486-7 that the collective concept of
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000024 “person” is not gender-neutral,
EMPATHETIC PEOPLE but rather prioritizes men over
CHILDHOOD CITY DONATE LESS WHEN women. Researchers deployed
ENTROPY AFFECTS STRESSED artificial intelligence algorithms
NAVIGATION The stress hormone cortisol that learn the meaning of words
According to research in Nature, reduces altruism by disrupting based on how they are used
growing up in rural or suburban activity in brain regions linked on a language repository that
areas may give people a leg up to social decision-making— included more than 630 billion
in navigation skills even decades but only in empathetic people, English-language words on 3
later compared with people according to research in the billion webpages. In the first of
who grew up in cities, especially Journal of Neuroscience. Research- three studies, they compared sim-
cities organized in a grid layout. ers asked 35 participants in ilarity in meaning (inferred via
Researchers examined data from Germany to decide how much linguistic context) between words
397,162 adults from 38 countries money to donate before and after for people (e.g., “individual”)
who played a mobile game that completing a stressful public and words for men (e.g., “he”) as
involved navigating a boat in an speaking task while their cortisol well as women (e.g., “she”). They
ocean. Players were shown a map levels were measured and their found that the collective concept
of an environment displaying brain activity was monitored of “people” overlapped more with
AZATVALEEV/GETTY IMAGES
several numbered checkpoints. with fMRI. Before the stressful the concept of “men” than with
When the map disappeared, the task, people with self-reported the concept of “women.” In the
players were to navigate to the higher “mentalizing” ability, or second and third studies, the
checkpoints in the correct order. the ability to imagine others’ collective concept of “women”
16 M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022was specifically associated with who suffered moral injury also orgasm frequency predicted
the characteristics (e.g., “quiet” reported higher levels of burnout. their desire and expectation for
or “shallow”) and actions (e.g., DOI: 10.1007/s11606-022-07487-4 orgasm. Additionally, women’s
“dance” and “cook”) stereotyp- orgasm frequency was correlated
ical of women, whereas the ORGASM GAP with men’s expectation for how
concept of “men” was associ- A study in Sex Roles builds on often people should orgasm. The
ated with a broader range of research on the orgasm gap and relationship between orgasm fre-
person-descriptive traits and suggests that men and women quencies and expectations may
actions. who orgasm more frequently partially explain women’s lower
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm2463 in their relationships want reported orgasm importance
and expect more orgasms. The compared with men. Relation-
COMPARABLE MORAL opposite is true for partners who ship length had no impact on
INJURY IN VETS AND climax less often. Researchers the orgasm gap.
HEALTH CARE WORKERS surveyed 104 sexually active DOI: 10.1007/s11199-022-01280-7
COVID-19 health care work- mixed-sex couples in the United
ers experienced potential “moral States about their sexual satisfac- DO ANTIDEPRESSANTS
injury” (witnessing behavior or tion, orgasm frequency, desired IMPROVE HEALTH?
acting in a way that violated orgasm frequency, expectation In the long run, maybe not.
their morals or values) at rates for how often people should People with depression who take
comparable to those experienced orgasm, and perceptions of their Research suggests antidepressants do not have a
that men and women
by military veterans, according to partner’s orgasm frequency. who orgasm more higher health-related quality of
a study in the Journal of General They found several differences frequently in their life than people with depression
Internal Medicine. Researchers between sexes, with men cli- relationships want who do not take such medi-
and expect more
asked 618 post-9/11 combat maxing more often than their orgasms. cations, according to a study
veterans about experiences during female partners. They also found in PLOS ONE. Researchers
their military service and 2,099 that men significantly under examined data from a longitudi-
health care workers in the United reported the size of this gap, and nal study with millions of adults
States about their experiences that men’s and women’s own in the United States diagnosed
during the pandemic. They found
similar response patterns across
both groups: 46% of veterans
and 51% of health care work-
ers indicated being disturbed
by others’ behavior that was in
conflict with their own morals,
such as the public’s disregard
for preventing virus transmis-
sion, whereas 24% of veterans
and 18% of health care workers
indicated being concerned with
violating their own morals and
values, such as triaging patients
ANDRANIK HAKOBYAN/GETTY IMAGES
or rationing dwindling medical
supplies. Additionally, morally
injured veterans and health care
workers reported more depres-
sion and lower quality of life.
Among health care workers, those
M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022 17In Brief
with depression. During the AI PREDICTS FIRST that such algorithms can be used
study, which spanned 2005 to IMPRESSIONS to manipulate photos to imbue
2016, there were, on average, Though often inaccurate, first subjects with undesirable charac-
17.5 million patients diagnosed impressions and snap judgments teristics, such as making political
with depression each year with 2 can themselves be accurately candidates appear menacing or
years of follow-up. Nearly 60% predicted by an artificial intelli- unintelligent.
of these patients received antide- gence (AI) algorithm, according DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2115228119
pressant medications. Across the to a study in the Proceedings of
lifetime of the study, those taking the National Academy of Sciences. LESS OPIOID MISUSE FOR
antidepressants did report small Researchers asked 4,157 online PSILOCYBIN USERS
improvements in health-related participants to glance at 1,004 A study in Scientific Reports
quality of life measures. How- computer-generated photos replicated earlier findings indi-
ever, none of the improvements, of faces for just a few seconds cating that people who have
whether related to physical or each and rank them using 10 used psilocybin—a psychedelic
mental health, were significantly criteria, such as how intelligent, substance found in some types
larger than the improvements in electable, or religious they were. People who have of mushrooms—at least once are
health reported by patients who The researchers then used the used psilocybin—a less likely to have opioid use dis-
psychedelic
did not take antidepressants. participants’ responses to train a substance found order. Researchers examined the
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265928 neural network to make similar in some types of incidence of opioid use disorder
snap judgments about people mushrooms—at least and the prevalence of psychedelic
once are less likely
RESEARCH GENDER based on photographs of their to have opioid use use among 214,505 adults in the
GAP CLOSING, BUT NOT faces. They found the neural disorder. United States using survey data
OPTIMALLY network’s assessments closely collected between 2015 and 2019.
According to a study in Nature aligned with common intuitions They found that opioid use disor-
Communications, more neurosci- or cultural assumptions, such der was 30% less likely among
ence and psychiatry studies are as people who smile tending to those who had used
including participants of both appear more trustworthy. The psilocybin compared
sexes than two decades ago, but researchers see algorithms like with those who had
few are designed well enough to theirs being useful for peo- never used it. For
distinguish possible sex differ- ple wanting to positively those who had
ences. Researchers analyzed curate their online used peyote,
3,193 papers published in three profiles, but also worry mescaline,
top-tier neuroscience and three or LSD at
top-tier psychiatry journals in least once,
2009 and in 2019. They found a there was
30% increase in the percentage either no significant relation-
of papers reporting studies that ship or even an increase in
included both sexes in 2019 opioid dependence.
(68% of papers) compared with DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08085-4
2009 (38% of papers). However,
in 2019 only 19% of the papers LACK OF IMAGINATION
used an “optimal design” (i.e., a Research in eLife suggests that
balanced ratio of male to female when people imagine light
subjects) to discover possible sex or dark objects, their pupils
YARYGIN/GETTY IMAGES
differences, and only 5% used an constrict and dilate accordingly,
“optimal analysis” to report such unless they have aphantasia, an
differences. inability to experience visual
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29903-3 imagination. Researchers
18 M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022outfitted 42 participants in Aus-
tralia who self-reported as having
vivid visual imaginations with
glasses to track their pupils while
they viewed, or just imagined,
objects of different brightness.
They found that even in response
to imagined bright and dark
shapes, the participants’ pupils
constricted and dilated accord-
ingly, with a pupillary response
that was larger in those report-
ing greater imagery vividness.
In comparison, 18 participants
who self-reported as lacking in
visual imagination had normal
pupillary responses to actual, but
not imagined, objects of varying
brightness. The researchers say
their finding is the first physio-
logical validation of aphantasia
and evidence that the pupillary mothers’ voices in the nucleus United States (212 with schizo-
light response can quantify the accumbens of the reward- phrenia and 216 with other
strength of visual imagery. processing system and in the psychotic disorders). Patients
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.72484 ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a Around age 13, were tracked starting when they
region involved in assigning value children begin tuning were first admitted for psychotic
out their mothers’
TUNING OUT MOM to social information. The switch voices and instead symptoms, through follow-up
A study in the Journal of Neuro- toward unfamiliar voices occurred begin homing in on assessments at 6 months, 2
science indicates that at around in these brain regions between 13 nonfamilial voices. years, 20 years, and 25 years
age 13, children begin tuning out and 14 years of age. No difference post-admittance. Researchers
their mothers’ voices and instead was observed between boys and also had access to patients’ pre-
begin homing in on nonfamilial girls. The researchers did not look vious cognitive scores extracted
voices. Researchers used fMRI at teenagers’ reactions to their from medical and school
to record brain activity of teens fathers’ voices. records. They found that in the
ages 13 to 16 in the United States DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2018-21.2022 14 years leading up to psychosis
in response to household sounds onset (mean age: 27 years) and
and nonsense words spoken by COGNTIVE DECLINE for 22 years afterward, patients
the teens’ mothers or one of two ACCELERATED IN with schizophrenia experienced
unfamiliar women. They found SCHIZOPHRENIA declines in IQ averaging more
that all voices elicited greater People diagnosed with schizo- than 1 point every 3 years, while
activation than other house- phrenia may show early signs of those with other psychotic dis-
hold sounds in several brain cognitive decline at a young age orders saw declines of roughly 1
regions compared with younger as well as rapid declines later in point every 7 years. Beyond 22
children (ages 7 to 12), whose life, according to a study in JAMA years post-psychosis onset, cog-
FATCAMERA/GETTY IMAGES
brain activity was measured in a Psychiatry. Researchers ana- nitive decline dipped at a faster
previous study. Additionally, in lyzed longitudinal data for 428 rate for both groups—over 1 IQ
teenagers, the unfamiliar voices individuals admitted to inpa- point every 2 years.
elicited greater activity than their tient psychiatric hospitals in the DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.1142
M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022 19News Feature
THE ONGOING TRAUMA OF GUN VIOLENCE
The regularity of mass shootings is razing Americans’ mental health—heightening stress and
dulling compassion in ways that demand broader concern, engagement, and change
BY ZARA ABRAMS
A
s mass shootings repeat- climate-related disasters, and panic and distress, others feel
edly erupt in schools, other factors, which combine to numb. Psychological reactions to
grocery stores, and other create what psychologist Roxane a crisis vary from one person to
establishments we visit every Cohen Silver, PhD, of the Uni- the next, based on factors such as
week, Americans are living in versity of California, Irvine, calls age, trauma history, and proxim-
fear. For children and teens, a “cascade of collective traumas” ity to an incident. But research
whose mental health is already in that the nation is facing together. has started to reveal who is
crisis, the ongoing backdrop of “We’re not starting at a place most likely to be affected, what
violence is steadily eroding the where everybody is healthy and the long-term mental health
sense of well-being, safety, and thriving,” said Rinad Beidas, problems will be, and what role
efficacy known to be essential for PhD, a professor of psychiatry, media exposure plays. Psychol-
healthy development. medical ethics and health policy, ogy offers guidance about how
On top of recent surges in and medicine at the University of to channel concern into action
depression, anxiety, and sui- Pennsylvania’s Perelman School amid these atrocities.
cides, a majority of teens now of Medicine. “Our reserves are “We’re at a really important
say they worry about a shooting depleted as a nation and our inflection point as a country
happening at their school (Pew young people are suffering.” where we all understand that
Research Center, 2018). Those Fear of mass shootings has
concerns have been linked with left a large majority of Ameri-
elevated anxiety levels and fear cans feeling stressed, including a
among students (O’Brien, C., & third of adults who say they now
Taku, K., Personality and Individ- avoid certain places and events
ual Differences, Vol. 186, 2022). as a result (Stress in America: Fear
Meanwhile, clinical psycholo- of Mass Shootings, APA, 2019).
gists, including Erika Felix, PhD, Experts say the frequency of
of the University of California, mass shootings, amplified by our
Santa Barbara, say the young near-constant access to media
people they treat are on high coverage of such events, amounts
alert, constantly planning their to an accumulation of exposure
escape route if violence breaks that is harming everyone’s men-
out in public. tal health.
“These tragedies are happen- “The more catastrophic events Chicago Cubs what’s currently happening with
ing far too often, and the result we’re exposed to as a nation, player Nelson regard to mass shootings cannot
Velazquez bows his
LARRY RADLOFF/ICON SPORTSWIRE/GETTY
is that many young people are the more impacted we’re going head for a moment continue,” said Beidas, who
feeling this constant back-of- to be on a psychological level,” of silence following also directs the Penn Medicine
the-mind stress,” Felix said. said Jonathan S. Comer, PhD, a the July 4 Highland Nudge Unit and Penn Imple-
Park, Illinois,
That stress is, of course, professor of psychology and psy- shooting. mentation Science Center. “I
embedded within the context chiatry at Florida International come to this with a lot of hope
of the pandemic, economic University. that we’re all recognizing that it’s
challenges, political polarization, While some people report time to do things differently.”
20 M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022A CYCLE OF DISTRESS more exposure tends to be impairments, and this is often
Mass shootings account for associated with more severe correlated with the amount
about 1% of annual firearm Mourners gather symptoms,” said clinical psy- of media exposure they have,”
deaths in the United States, but following the school chologist Sarah Lowe, PhD, Comer said.
shooting in Uvalde,
they occupy an outsize space in Texas, in which 19 an assistant professor of social Such findings are highly con-
the public consciousness. elementary school and behavioral sciences at Yale cerning given how intertwined
“These events are still rel- children and two School of Public Health, who people’s lives are with media,
adults were killed.
atively rare, but it doesn’t feel led a 2015 literature review on researchers say. Silver and her col-
that way,” said school psychol- the mental health consequences leagues have studied that link for
ogist Franci Crepeau-Hobson, of mass shootings (Trauma, more than 20 years, showing how
PhD, an associate professor and Violence, & Abuse, Vol. 18, No. 1, high levels of exposure to media
director of clinical training at the 2015). coverage of 9/11 and the Boston
University of Colorado Den- But the research is still very Marathon bombings predicted
ver’s School of Education and limited. In Lowe’s review, PTSD symptoms of acute stress and
Human Development. “I think prevalence ranged from 3% to post-traumatic stress (Psycholog-
that everybody’s sense of security 91%, depending on the study, ical Science, Vol. 24, No. 9, 2013;
has been threatened.” and methodological questions PNAS, Vol. 111, No. 1, 2014).
For survivors and witnesses of remain, such as what even con- Over time, media exposure
mass shootings, suffering tends stitutes a mass shooting. to mass violence can even fuel a
to be particularly severe. Studies Though relatively few people cycle of distress, where persistent
have documented increases in will witness or survive mass worry about future violence pre-
post-traumatic stress disor- shootings, many more will dicts more media consumption
WU XIAOLING XINHUA/EYEVINE/REDUX
der (PTSD), major depression, experience them through news and more stress, the research-
anxiety disorders, substance use reports and social media. ers found (Thompson, R. R., et
disorder, and other conditions “There’s a great deal of al., Science Advances, Vol. 5, No.
among people who have survived evidence that individuals who 4, 2019). That constant worry,
a mass shooting. are far away from mass shoot- known as “perseverative cogni-
“A common theme is that ings can face anxiety and tion,” has been linked to declines
M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022 21Mass Shootings
in physical health, including car- said. “One person might be problems, which can lead to
diovascular problems (Ottaviani, very impacted by an event, and inaction and disengagement. In
C., et al., Psychological Bulletin, another may not be concerned one study, participants who saw
Vol. 142, No. 3, 2016; JAMA Psy- about it at all.” statistics about the magnitude
chiatry, Vol. 65, No. 1, 2008). Research by cognitive psy- of the hunger crisis in Africa
In addition to the risks of chologists helps explains how donated about half as much
media exposure, people with a we perceive mass violence and money as those who saw a photo
history of trauma are more likely why it can leave some people of a single child in need (PLOS
to experience post-traumatic feeling numb. Paul Slovic, PhD, ONE, Vol. 9, No. 6, 2014).
stress (PTS) symptoms follow- a professor of psychology at the Zeneta Everhart, “If we believe there’s a prob-
ing a new exposure, such as a University of Oregon, and his the mother of a man lem that we can’t do anything
who was injured in
terrorist attack or mass shooting colleagues have shown that in the Buffalo, New about, it makes sense that we
(Garfin, D. R., et al., Psycho- many cases, the more people who York, grocery store don’t attend to it, because it’s
logical Science, Vol. 26, No. 6, die in an incident of mass vio- shooting, and Dr. very distressing to dwell on
Roy Guerrero, a
2015). Physical proximity to an lence, the less we care. They call pediatrician who things you can’t fix,” Slovic said.
incident also carries a higher risk this phenomenon the “deadly treated victims of Finally, research on what’s
of mental health problems. One arithmetic of compassion.” the Uvalde, Texas, known as the “prominence
school shooting,
study of 44 school shootings Their research shows that testify before the effect” shows how people often
found that antidepressant use people’s intuitive feelings of con- House Committee struggle to make decisions when
increased more than 20% among cern for victims of violence don’t on Oversight and they require weighing complex
Reform. Guerrero
young people who lived within 5 respond well to statistics and described the trade-offs (University of Illi-
miles of a shooting, versus those don’t scale up. In other words, horrifying details nois Law Review Slip Opinions,
who lived 10 to 15 miles away the horror people felt when 19 of seeing the child 2015). In the case of gun legisla-
victims in the
(Rossin-Slater, M., et al., PNAS, children and two adults were emergency room. tion, this helps explain why the
Vol. 117, No. 38, 2020). shot and killed at Robb Elemen- complex calculus of lives saved
Psychological proximity—the tary School in Uvalde, Texas, versus freedoms sacrificed has
degree to which we relate to largely resulted in inaction at the
another person or an event— policy level.
also increases the risk for PTS And on top of this deadly
symptoms (Thoresen, S., et al., arithmetic, our attention is a
European Journal of Psychotrau- scarce resource. Time passes,
matology, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2012). memories fade, and we’re
“Oftentimes, the more one inclined to shift our atten-
identifies with the victims, the tion elsewhere if we don’t see
more difficulty they have in the progress. National surveys have
aftermath of an event like this,” shown that support for gun leg-
Comer said. islation spikes in the immediate
aftermath of a mass shooting but
GOING NUMB fades within a few weeks ( Jose,
While some people worry regu- R., et al., Psychology of Violence,
larly about mass shootings, many isn’t 21 times greater than what Vol. 11, No. 4, 2021; Filindra,
are fatigued by the seemingly people feel when one child is A., et al., Social Science Quarterly,
JASON ANDREW/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX
endless cycle of violence that murdered. Slovic and other psy- Vol. 101, No. 5, 2020).
moves rapidly through the media chologists call this dampening of “Our mind deceives us
and public discourse. the emotional response “psychic into underreacting to the most
“There’s not one single way numbing.” important problems in the world,
people are experiencing these At the same time, people including mass violence,” Slovic
tragedies, and there’s no one- often have a false sense of inef- said. “But when one of these
size-fits-all response,” Silver ficacy in the face of very large events occurs, we do have a win-
22 M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022dow of opportunity when people
are awake, emotionally engaged,
and motivated for action.”
YOUTH ON HIGH ALERT
The stress of mass shootings may
weigh particularly heavily on
children and teens, whose mental
health is already in turmoil. In
2021, three leading pediatric
organizations declared a national
emergency, while the U.S. Sur-
geon General issued a special
advisory on youth mental health,
citing a 57% increase in suicides
between 2007 and 2018 (Curtin,
S. C., National Vital Statistics
Reports, Vol. 69, No. 11, 2020).
Research shows that at least
some of that distress can be “When I talk to kids about this, mid-20s of young adults who
attributed to mass violence. attended schools where a shoot-
One study of more than 2,000
I am shocked by how inured and ing occurred; they had lower
teens found that greater concern accepting they are. They don’t employment rates and earnings
about school shootings and know a world where there’s not an than their peers (Cabral, M.,
violence predicted increases in active shooter drill at school.” et al., NBER Working Paper
anxiety and panic 6 months later 28311, 2022).
DON GRANT PHD, NEWPORT ACADEMY, SANTA MONICA, CA
(Riehm, K. E., et al., JAMA Net- “It’s not just that individual
work Open, Vol. 4, No. 11, 2021). young people experience these
“When I talk to kids about such as gun violence, devote really deleterious effects, but
this, I am shocked by how inured more mental resources to emo- there is also a societal effect,”
and accepting they are,” said tions and fewer to executive Beidas said.
Don Grant, PhD, the executive functions, including learning, Uvalde, Texas, was Because mass shootings
director of outpatient services memory, and sustaining atten- set to host the Little impact children and teens at
League All-Star
for Newport Academy in Santa tion (Dettmer, A. M., & Hughes, Championship in the individual, institutional,
Monica, California, and presi- T. L., Education Week, 2022). June. Six of the 19 and societal levels, experts say
dent of APA’s Div. 46 (Society “When threat perceptions are children killed were a tiered approach is needed to
on the hometown
for Media Psychology and escalated and stress responses team. The town minimize harm.
Technology). “They don’t know a are activated, we can’t access considered canceling In the family context, it’s
world where there’s not an active the higher parts of our brain,” the games but important to initiate conversa-
ultimately decided
shooter drill at school.” Crepeau-Hobson said. to play on while tions with children and teens
In the educational context, Data suggest those effects honoring the victims. after an incident, even if they
CALLAGHAN O’HARE/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX
that constant vigilance can be could be far-reaching. A 2020 aren’t part of the affected com-
particularly problematic, and report from the National Bureau munity, said Comer.
research on threat perception of Economic Research found “When kids hear about these
suggests that prolonged height- that school shootings increased events from their parents, they
ened anxiety may interfere with absenteeism, reduced high school tend to do better than when they
learning, said Crepeau-Hobson. and college graduation rates, and hear about it from their friends
Students who are constantly decreased retention of teachers. or the media first,” he said.
worried about a toxic stressor, Those effects persisted into the If a child or teen becomes
M O N I TO R O N P S YC H O LO G Y ● SEPTEMBER 2022 23You can also read
