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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Beth E. Molnar, ScD, Dept. of Maternal and Child Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, SPH-3, Boston, MA 02115, (617)432-2433, bmolnar@hsph.harvard.edu, Matt Miller, MD, ScD, Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02115, Deborah Azrael, PhD, Health Policy and Management, Harvard University, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, and Stephen L. Buka, ScD, Department of Maternal and Child Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, SPH-3, Boston, MA 02115.
Purpose: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in 1998 that 3,709 children ages 5-19 were killed by firearms (CDC, 1998). Research has identified a number of individual level risk factors for gun use by youth, but little is known about neighborhood influences. Methods: Data were analyzed from youth ages 10-18 years participating in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (N=1842). Multi-level modeling was used to estimate neighborhood and family risk factors for gun use. Results: Among males, 4.9% reported carrying a concealed gun, and 16.3% reported handling a gun without adult supervision. Among females, 1.1% reported carrying a concealed gun, and 8.1% reported handling without adult supervision. Possession of a gun in the home was reported by 10.5% of youth. In multivariate, multi-level models, the odds of youth carrying a concealed gun or handling a gun without supervision were three times higher in homes where a gun was reportedly kept. Neighborhood disorder (OR=2.0, 95% C.I.=1.1,3.6), neighborhood educational level (OR=0.7, 95% C.I.=0.5, 0.9), as well as community members' assessment of neighborhoods being unsafe to play (OR=4.9, 95% C.I.=1.7, 14.2), each predicted youth carrying a concealed weapon, but not handling a gun without supervision. Conclusions: Keeping a gun in the home appears to be an important family risk factor for children/adolescent use of guns. We also found that neighborhoods contribute to the behavior of children above and beyond the influences of the family. Interventions to improve neighborhood conditions may be efficacious in preventing gun use by youth.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Youth Violence, Firearms
Related Web page: www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/index.html
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.