Attitudes and Behaviors of American Youth - Death

At least one study (B. Halpern-Felsher and S. G. Millstein, "The Effects of Terrorism on Teens' Perceptions of Dying: The New World Is Riskier Than Ever," Journal of Adolescent Health, vol. 30, 2002) found that teens' fears of death rose after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Researchers from the University of California at San Francisco found that ninth graders attending public schools in northern California felt their likelihood of dying was 15.25% before the attacks and 20.87% one month after. The teens' perception of vulnerability was higher after the attacks even in non-terrorist scenarios—for example, students believed they were more at risk of dying during an earthquake (24.64% pre-9/11 versus 41.94% post-9/11) or a tornado (34.62% pre-9/11 versus 64.33% post-9/11).