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Sources

Reports in the field of violence prevention that Sandy Hook Promise frequently uses.

Reports and Select Findings

Reports and Select Findings

Staying at the forefront of violence prevention means learning from both past and emerging research. Organizations like The United States Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Gun Violence Solutions, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regularly publish reports that help us understand the state of youth violence across the country.

The reports that follow are frequently cited by Sandy Hook Promise help shape the foundation of our violence prevention work.

The United States Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center Report on Mass Attacks in Public Spaces 2016-2020

  • Published in January 2023.
  • Details information about the warning signs a person may show before carrying out an act of mass violence.
  • About 76% of perpetrators of mass violence between 2016 and 2020 exhibited warning signs that concerned others or shared concerning communications prior to their attacks.
  • Warning signs include being overly aggressive and/or lacking self-control, a lack of coping, anger management, and/or conflict resolution skills, making overt threats of violence in pictures, videos, spoken, or written words, showing patterns of impulsive behavior and/or chronic hitting, regularly using intimidation or bullying behaviors.
  • Chronic social isolation can also be a warning sign. The person may be a victim of constant social rejection or marginalization, show a sudden increase in withdrawing from other people and activities, and blaming others for own failures.
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The United States Surgeon General’s Report: Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation

  • Published in 2023.
  • Contains information about the increases in loneliness and social isolation among adolescents and teens in America.
  • Recent surveys have found that approximately half of U.S. adults report experiencing loneliness, with some of the highest rates among young adults.
  • For young people ages 15 to 24, time spent in-person with friends has reduced by nearly 70% over almost two decades, from roughly 150 minutes per day in 2003 to 40 minutes per day in 2020.
  • Young adults are almost twice as likely to report feeling lonely than those over 65.
Read the Report

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risky Behavior Survey 2021-2023

  • Published in 2024.
  • Outlines the results of recent iterations of the Youth Risky Behavior Survey.
  • In 2023, 9% of all high school students were threatened or injured with a weapon such as a gun, knife, or club at school during the past year.
  • In 2023, 13% of high school students did not go to school because they felt unsafe either at school or on their way to or from school at least once during the past 30 days.
  • In 2023, 40% of high school students felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks in a row that they stopped doing their usual activities.
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Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Gun Violence Solutions

  • Published in 2024.
  • Data collected in 2022 details the impact of firearms on youth in the United States.
  • 2,526 children and teens ages 1-17 died by a firearm in 2022 – an average of 7 deaths every day.
  • Firearms accounted for 30% of all the deaths that occurred among older teens (ages 15- 17).
  • Gun death rates doubled from 2013 to 2022 for children and teens (ages 1-17).
Read the Report

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