Abstract

There is an urgent need to understand and remediate children’s sense of resilience given the national and global growth in mental health issues facing young people today. Rates of depression and anxiety have increased steadily over the past two decades [1]. The COVID-19 pandemic - with all the isolation, disruptions, and anxieties associated with it - only served to exacerbate the problem [2]. Recent data indicate that 1 out of every 6 adolescents struggles with significant depression, and nearly 1 in 3 have an anxiety disorder. These rates increase to 50% when we include individuals reporting lower levels of generalized distress [1]. Importantly, these mental health challenges are associated with substantial problems in school and a decline in general well-being [3]. This review is a summary of the best data available at this time to prevent shootings before they occur.