(PS4-C68) Stressing Students to Protect Them: Do “realistic” Components of Active Shooter Trainings Increase Cortisol?

Active shooter trainings have become increasingly prevalent and are designed, in theory, to train personnel and students in schools on how to respond to emergency situations in ways that will save lives (Cox & Rich, 2018; King & Bracy, 2019). What is notable about these emergency preparedness trainings, however, is that oftentimes realistic shooting details are included in training deliberately to increase stress and reactivity. Trainings often create a stressful experience by using simulations with props that create a highly sensorial experience (e.g., simulated gunfire, simulated weapons, fake blood, etc.) (Huskey & Connell, 2020; Jonson et al., 2018; National Association of School Psychologists & National Association of School Resource Officers, 2014). Despite the prevalence and intensity of these trainings, there are substantial gaps in the literature on the efficacy, impact, and risk of different training models. “Realistic” experiences likely increase stress; even when training police, realistic training components in active shooter trainings increases blood and salivary markers of stress during/immediately after the training (McAllister et al., 2020). However, this cortisol stress response has not been measured in students (only in police). Understanding the psychological and biological impacts of these trainings is essential given the trainings’ wide-spread prevalence.

This poster will report on data currently being analyzed from a pilot study in Fall 202; this project examines the impact of participation in a widely disseminated active shooter training program (ALICE) on levels of fear and stress amongst college-student participants. Twenty first-year students were recruited and randomized into one of three training conditions that were developed with campus police based the current literature: high-stress simulation (current model used by the College), low-stress simulation (model without acting of shooter-behavior and firing blanks or using fake guns/Nerf balls to "shoot” students), and discussion-based training (control). Students completed surveys before and after the training, measuring feelings of preparedness for an active shooter incident. Students in all three conditions also provided us with saliva samples 5 times during the ALICE training administration (allowing us to directly assess stress via cortisol). After training, students also completed 10 knowledge-check questions that assessed learning goals. Salivary cortisol levels are currently in analysis, and will be determined with a commercial ELISA. The poster will present cortisol responses to the three levels of training, feelings of preparedness, and knowledge gained. We hope this data will be used to inform larger projects examining the safety and efficacy of active-shooter response trainings.