At an amusement park in Myrtle Beach recently with her family, Rut Rivera found herself looking for escape routes.

She made sure to wear shoes that would allow her to run with her 1-year-old in her arms.

She scanned the crowd to see how many Hispanics were in the vicinity.

She did all this, she said, in case someone started shooting.

“My 3-year-old is riding around in the cars with my husband and I’m with my daughter and the thought comes through my head, ‘What if someone comes around with a gun? Where do we hide?’ Rivera told The Greenville News.

“You have your kids and want to have fun with them,” she said. “Unfortunately how things are right now, Hispanics and Latinos are being targeted.

“It’s really scary.”

Rivera, of Simpsonville, is like many people described in new research from the American Psychological Association, which concludes that nearly eight of 10 U.S. adults are stressed by mass shootings.

Conducted online by The Harris Poll between Aug. 8 and 12, the survey showed that nearly one in three adults don't feel they can go anywhere without worrying about a mass shooting, while about the same number say fear prevents them from going to certain places or events.

And about a quarter of adults said they have changed how they live because of fear of a mass shooting.

“It’s clear that mass shootings are taking a toll on our mental health, and we should be particularly concerned that they are affecting the way many of us are living our daily lives,” said APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr.

“The more these events happen in places where people can see themselves frequenting, the greater the mental health impact will be,” he said. “We don’t have to experience these events directly for them to affect us.

“Simply hearing about them can have an emotional impact, and this can have negative repercussions for our mental and physical health.”

Worse since El Paso

Hispanics are twice as likely as whites to cite frequent stress related to the possibility of a mass shooting, the research shows. They’re also more likely to say they don’t know how to cope with that stress.

Rivera, a U.S. citizen from Venezuela who has lived here for 19 years, said she’s thought about these things for a while, especially at events where there are large crowds or large numbers of Hispanics, like 4th of July celebrations where the sound of gunfire could be masked by fireworks.

But it’s gotten worse since the Aug. 3 El Paso shooting that left 22 people dead and dozens wounded, said Rivera, who is Greenville coordinator for PASOs, a statewide nonprofit affiliated with the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health which helps improve health and access to services for Hispanics.

“We’ve had a couple of different shootings,” she said. “But since El Paso, it’s been more triggering, being on the lookout for things.”

She and her husband, Manuel, steer clear of concerts. She doesn’t feel comfortable speaking Spanish in public for fear of being targeted. And while they attend church, it’s inside an American church.

A large Hispanic church could be singled out by a shooter, she said.

“Knowing that, unfortunately, the Latino community is being targeted, it’s tough,” she said.

‘We’re targeted’

For Roberto Pena, fear of mass shootings prompted him to get a concealed weapons permit to protect himself and his family. Many of his friends have done the same, he said.

“With the shootings, even myself, I’m a little afraid to even go to any concerts or any outdoor activities,” said the Spartanburg truck driver.

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“You don’t know what could happen,” he added. “We don’t know what retaliation we’re going to get.”

Pena, 43, said the fear has kept him and his wife, Luisa, and their 3½ month old son away from the festivals in downtown Greenville as well.

“People can tell if we are Spanish or not,” he said. “I feel ... that we’re targeted. I feel like everybody’s looking at us. Like what are you doing here?”

An American citizen who was born in the Dominican Republic and lived here for 12 years, Pena agrees that the fear is worse since the El Paso shooting. Like Rivera, he also avoids places with lots of Latinos and speaking Spanish in public. And he pays more attention to his surroundings.

“It’s sad that all these things are happening,” he said. “We’re Americans too.”

Healthy paranoia

Greenville psychologist Martha Durham said the study findings, which also show that African Americans are more stressed than whites about the shootings, make sense.

She points to the Mother Emmanuel shooting in Charleston that left nine dead.

“Groups that have been marginalized and discriminated against and killed, these groups have a heightened sense of paranoia, but it’s healthy paranoia because they experience these things,” she said. “If white folks start getting killed at the same level for being white, they would also have the same amount of fear.”

Compared with whites, African Americans are more likely to feel that they or someone they know will be a victim of a mass shooting, the research shows.

“I work with a lot of people who’ve been traumatized because something really terrible did happen,” she said.

Women are more stressed than men about the possibility of a shooting, according to the study. And Durham notes that historically, women have been targets of violence too.

Meanwhile, parents of children younger than 18 are nearly twice as likely as those without children that age to feel this way, the study shows, with more than six in 10 saying they “live in fear that their children will be victims of a mass shooting.”

Malls, schools and movie theaters

Reflecting the locations of many mass shootings, people say they are most concerned about public events, malls, schools, universities and movie theaters, the research shows.

And because so many mass shootings — from Columbine to Townville to the Gilroy Garlic Festival — occur in small towns, people think if it can happen there, it can happen where they live too, Durham said.

People should be aware of their surroundings and have a plan for what to do in case something happens, she said. But if it crosses over to panic and hyper-vigilance that interferes with their lives, they should seek help.

“It’s not a bad idea to have a plan. What is bad is if you become paralyzed by fear and can’t live life,” she said. “Being with other people you feel safe with, knowing what to do if there is a shooter, is good. Rather than staying at home, go and be watchful.”

But, she added, it’s wise to steer clear of events where the risks are heightened, such a gathering of people with hateful views, especially if you’re a parent.

'A lot of fear'

Rivera, 34, said this fear is a common theme among the Latino families she knows.

“We’ve talked about it in the community, how can we protect ourselves from things that happen?” she said. “There’s a lot of fear going on within our community right now.”

Despite the current climate, she believes things will improve.

“Latinos are very resilient,” Rivera said. “And so this will pass and things will get better.”

The larger community can help by expressing unity, she said.

“If you don’t have a problem with the Hispanic community, show support,” she said. “We’re all human beings. We are with our families. We work hard.”

Durham agrees.

“It’s important for those of us who don’t experience violence and discrimination to understand where it comes from,” she said, “and to try to stop it by acknowledging these groups have been targeted.”