Self-Reported Anxiety and Perception of Safety Following School Lockdown Drills among Adolescent Youth.

Background: Lockdown drills are mandated within many educational settings in the US; they may contribute to adverse mental health and there is little to suggest their effectiveness. We describe factors associated with post-drill anxiety and perceived effectiveness of drills.

Methods: We surveyed youth-caregiver dyads presenting to the pediatric emergency department. Nonparametric tests compared factors across groups of child anxiety and caregiver perceived effectiveness of drills. Kappa statistics (κ) measured child-caregiver agreement on post-drill anxiety and depression symptoms.

Results: 108 child-caregiver dyads were included. Post-lockdown drill anxiety was reported by 27% of children; those reporting anxiety were more likely to have histories of bullying or skipping school for safety (p = 0.0004). Of caregivers, 47% believed drills effectively prevent firearm injury. There was a significant disparity between child and caregiver report of post-drill mental health symptomatology (κ anxiety = 0.19; κ depression = 0.30). Implications for School Health, Policy, Practice, and Equity: Understanding factors contributing to anxiety surrounding lockdown drills and perception of drill effectiveness may aid policy decisions and resource allocation.

Conclusions: Lockdown drills may increase mental health symptoms in children, while caregivers may not recognize this occurrence. Studies to identify risk factors of acute and chronic post-lockdown drill anxiety will help determine how to better serve youth.