Media Consumption and Mass Violence-Related Distress in Communities Affected by Mass Violence

Mass violence incidents (MVIs) occur at alarming rates in the US. MVIs have immense impact on direct survivors and broader communities; less is known about worry or avoidance behaviors related to concerns about future MVIs.

To examine the association between media consumption and worry and avoidance behaviors related to concerns about future MVIs in individuals living in communities that experienced an MVI.

In this cross-sectional study, a survey was completed from February 1 to September 31, 2020, by a household probability sample of adults from 6 communities that experienced an MVI from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2019. Participants were not present at the MVI but reported consuming MVI-related media coverage within 1 month of the event. Address-based sampling was used. Of 6867 participants who accessed the survey, 87.2% completed the survey, 6.5% were ineligible, and 6.3% did not finish the survey. Data analysis was performed from December 2024 to May 2025.

The following outcomes were assessed via the self-report survey: (1) worry about future MVIs and (2) avoidance of public places or large crowds because of such worries.

A total of 5141 participants (mean [SD] age, 46.2 [17.5] years; unweighted number [weighted percentage]: 3581 [54.2%] female) completed the survey; an unweighted number (weighted percentage) of 3383 (65.5%) reported worrying about future MVIs and 1447 (28.5%) reported avoiding public places due to MVI-related concerns. In weighted multilevel logistic models, greater media consumption was associated with higher odds of worrying about future MVIs (odds ratio, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.31-1.46) and avoidance of public places (odds ratio, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.26-1.40). Media source moderated the association between media consumption and worry but not the association between media consumption and avoidance. Exposure to potentially traumatic events moderated neither association.

In this cross-sectional study of adults from communities impacted by MVIs, many respondents reported avoiding public places due to concerns of future MVIs, and most reported worrying about future attacks; amount of media consumption was associated with greater risk of these outcomes. These findings can inform the dissemination of information on MVIs and education on consumption of media information; such efforts may mitigate the development of psychological disorders in adults from these communities.