Psychological trauma among Virginia Tech students in the wake of the 2007 mass shooting was widespread and long-lasting, according to newly published research that suggests such tragedies are communal events with far-reaching ramifications.

The research provides insights that could be helpful to members of the Ford Hood community suffering post-traumatic symptoms in the wake of last week’s mass killing at the Texas military base, as well as to counselors working with that traumatized population.

Writing in the journals Violence and Victims and Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy, a research team led by East Carolina University psychologist Heather Littleton analyzed two surveys of female Virginia Tech students — one taken two months following the April 16, 2007 massacre in which 33 people were killed and 25 wounded, and another taken six months after the tragedy.

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