Balancing Students’ Perceptions of Safety and Emergency Preparedness: A Quasi-Experimental Test of Protection Motivation Theory as it Relates to Lockdown Drills

Widespread concern and criticism exist about lockdown drills, which are currently employed in 98% of public K-12 schools in the United States. Despite the proliferation of these practices, however, research is only beginning to consider their impacts on students. This study explores students’ participation of lockdown drills through the lens of Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) with particular focus on how their perceived safety and emergency preparedness impacts their likelihood of engagement with self-protective behaviors. Data were collected from high school students prior to and immediately after participation in a lockdown drill. Findings revealed that, consistent with PMT, perceptions of school safety were significantly correlated with use of self-protective and avoidant behaviors, which also was further mediated through perceived risk of victimization. Conversely, there was no direct or mediated relationship between these outcomes and perceived emergency preparedness. Broader takeaways from our findings, including implications for policy and practice, also are discussed.