Violence following a threat assessment: Do threat classification and school safety measures matter?

School threat assessment is a widely used strategy for preventing violence. However, there have been few studies of student attacks following a threat assessment. Additionally, most existing studies have been conducted within a single state, limiting the generalizability of findings. Thus, the primary purpose of this study was to identify student- and school-level correlates of attack rates in a multistate sample of schools.

We hypothesized that most threat assessment cases will not lead to attacks, but that attacks will be more likely in more serious threat cases. We hypothesized that attacks will be lower in schools using safety staff (including school resource officers and security guards) and anonymous reporting systems.

Based on 2,349 case records from 166 schools in five U.S. states, this study examined the frequency of student attacks following a threat assessment using the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines. The study also examined the relationships between threat classification and school safety measures with student attack outcomes (injury or no injury).

There were 234 (10%) cases involving an attack, and seven (0.3%) resulted in serious injury to the target. The odds of an attack were approximately 20 times greater for serious threats compared to nonserious threats. The presence of school safety measures did not significantly correlate with student attacks or injury.

School threat assessment teams can manage student threats of violence with few subsequent attacks but should anticipate that threat classification is strongly associated with the likelihood of an attack and therefore warrants increased intervention and preventive actions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).