Shattering core beliefs: Psychological reactions to mass shooting in Orlando

Perceptions of safety among LGBTQ people following the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting.

“…Therefore, we hypothesize that LGBTQ people may have experienced the shooting as a traumatic event, irrespective of their geographic proximity to the shooting. This hypothesis is supported by research showing that incidents of mass violence can shatter the collective worldview of an impacted community and trigger symptoms of posttraumatic stress among individual members (Ben-Ezra et al, 2017;Gross, 2016;Updegraff, Silver, & Holman, 2008). The construct of collective trauma (i.e., psychological trauma experienced by a group of people) has emerged in the literature to describe how large-scale traumatic events (e.g., terrorist attacks, mass shootings) impact the worldview, meaning-making, and posttraumatic adjustment of impacted communities (Boyle et al, 2017;Jenkins & Baird, 2002;Luszczynska, Benight, & Cieslak, 2009;Poulin, Silver, Gil-Rivas, Holman, & McIntosh, 2009;Rimé, Páez, Basabe, & Martínez, 2010;Seery, Silver, Holman, Ence, & Chu, 2008;Updegraff et al, 2008).…”

“…Additionally, those who perceived their peers were using drugs to cope with the shooting were nine times more likely to use drugs to cope with the tragedy (Boyle et al, 2017). Finally, in a representative sample of Florida residents conducted 3 weeks after the shooting, 13% of respondents reported elevated psychological distress and 8.1% reported having symptoms associated with acute stress disorder (Ben-Ezra et al, 2017).…”

“…Many in the LGBTQ community experienced psychological distress following the Pulse massacre, including feeling fearful and unsafe (Alvarez & Pérez-Peña, 2016; Ben-Ezra, Hamama-Raz, Mahat-Shamir, Pitcho-Prelorentzos, & Kaniasty, 2017; Jackson, 2017). One study found that, in the weeks following the shooting, residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma reported feeling less safe in LGBT-friendly bars than those living in the New York City and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas (Croff et al, 2017).…”

“…Many in the LGBTQ community experienced psychological distress following the Pulse massacre, including feeling fearful and unsafe (Alvarez & Pérez-Peña, 2016;Ben-Ezra, Hamama-Raz, Mahat-Shamir, Pitcho-Prelorentzos, & Kaniasty, 2017;Jackson, This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.…”

“…In fact, those who reported higher rates of psychological distress were significantly more likely to report a disrupted worldview, a shift in political views, and a change in position on gun control (Ben-Ezra et al, 2017). Many individuals in the LGBTQ community view gay bars and nightclubs as safe spaces, as places where they can be free from the day-to-day slights and homoaggressive behaviors experienced outside of such venues (Croff et al, 2017).…”