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Gun Violence: 42% Surge in Child Mental Health Issues

1/29/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Children whose parents were injured by firearms experience a 42% increase in psychiatric diagnoses and a 60% rise in mental health visits within one year of the injury.
The study by researchers from Mass General Brigham and Harvard found trauma-related disorders, particularly PTSD, increased the most.
About 20,000 U.S. children lose a parent to gun violence each year.
Findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Story summary

Children whose parents were injured by firearms experience a 42% increase in psychiatric diagnoses and a 60% rise in mental health visits within one year of the injury.
The study by researchers from Mass General Brigham and Harvard found trauma-related disorders, particularly PTSD, increased the most.
About 20,000 U.S. children lose a parent to gun violence each year.
Findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.