Family process correlates of firearm ownership and firearm storage among families with young children

Firearm Access and Socio-Structural Factors Related to Suicidality Among Youth With Diverse Sexual, Gender, and Racial Identities

OBJECTIVE

Elevated rates of suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempts (SA) among youth, particularly multiply marginalized youth, are occurring in the context of youths' access to household firearms. Research examining how perceived access to firearms is related to SI and SA among youth with marginalized identities is limited and often neglects to consider intersectionality. This study explored how intersecting social identities and positions, access to firearms, and socio-structural factors were associated with SI and SA for youth.

METHOD

The analytic sample (N = 17,794) included 7-12th grade students who participated in the 2021 Dane County Youth Assessment. Exhaustive CHAID - a decision tree matrix approach - examined all possible combinations of self-reported sociodemographic characteristics (gender identity, sexual identity, racial identity, grade, and firearm access) and socio-structural variables (bias-based bullying, school belongingness, and social pressure) to predict mutually exclusive groups of youth based on past-year SI and SA.

RESULTS

SI and SA was most prevalent among intersectional groups with multiply marginalized identities and access to firearms. Socio-structural factors, including bias-based bullying victimization, lack of school belongingness, and social pressure, were characteristic of groups with higher prevalence of SI and SA.

CONCLUSIONS

While the marginalized youth in this sample have lower access to firearms, the prevalence of SI and SA was highest among multiply marginalized youth who reported access to firearms in the context of bias-based bullying, social pressure, and a lack of school belongingness. Youth suicide prevention efforts would be strengthened by policies that address firearm access and improve the school environment.

Ecological promotive and protective factors deterring gun carriage for young adults living in communities with high rates of community violence

This study identified promotive and protective factors that lessened the likelihood of handgun carriage in a sample of 141 predominantly Black (97%) young adults (ages 18-22) living in high burden communities experiencing elevated rates of violence. Participants completed surveys assessing overall risk and protective factors for violence across ecological contexts (e.g., individual/peer, family, school, and community). A series of regression and moderation analyses were conducted to ascertain direct (promotive) and indirect (protective) relations between factors across the ecological model and likelihood of gun carriage. Results indicated that (1) consistent with previous studies, both witnessing violence and violence victimization were significant risk factors for handgun carriage, (2) ethnic identity was a significant promotive factor related to a lower likelihood of handgun carriage, and (3) lack of family conflict, student status, and community assets were significant protective factors where higher levels of these factors attenuated the relation between exposure to community violence and likelihood of gun carriage. This is one of the first strengths-based studies examining factors that may mitigate the likelihood of gun carriage for young adults in high risk contexts. Our findings suggest that gun violence prevention efforts for high burden communities should support young adults by strengthening factors across the ecological model (e.g., individual, family, school, and community).

Corporal punishment bans and adolescent suicide rates: An international ecological study

BACKGROUND

Exposure to corporal punishment during childhood is associated with suicidal behaviors during adolescence. To date, the protective effects of national policies governing the use of corporal punishment have rarely been studied for adolescent suicide outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate contemporaneous and lagged associations between national legislation banning corporal punishment and adolescent suicide rates.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

We used population-level administrative and mortality data from 97 countries spanning the years 1950 to 2017.

METHODS

Negative binomial models were used to investigate the relationship between the existence of official corporal punishment bans in countries and national adolescent suicide mortality rates and the potential time lag between the enactment of such bans and reductions in adolescent suicide rates.

RESULTS

National policies that permitted corporal punishment in all settings (homes, schools, daycares, and alternative care) were associated with a higher relative risk (RR) for suicide in females aged 15-19 (RR = 2.07, p = .03), as were policies allowing corporal punishment in schools specifically (RR = 2.01, p = .02). Partial bans of corporal punishment and bans of school corporal punishment showed lagged effects on suicide rates which peaked after 12 years for females aged 15-19 and after 13 years for males aged 15-19.

CONCLUSIONS

Study findings add to a body of evidence that suggests that official policies banning corporal punishment may promote adolescent health and well-being. The benefits of such policies in terms of reduced risk for adolescent suicide appear to peak approximately 12 to 13 years after enactment of the legislation.

Firearm-related research articles in health sciences by funding status and type: A scoping review

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Federal restrictions have impacted funding for firearm-related research.

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We know little about the funding landscape for this research in the health sciences.

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A smaller proportion of articles reported funding in 2019 compared to 2000.

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Despite an increase in volume of publications, funding limitations still exist.

Federal funding for firearm-related research in the health sciences has incurred Congressional restrictions and executive actions. Little is known about the funding landscape for published scholarship in this field. This study’s aim was to characterize the number and sources of funding, including federal and non-federal sources, for firearm-related research articles published in health sciences journals. We performed a scoping review of original, empirical, peer-reviewed articles related to firearms published in health science journals and indexed in PubMed between January 2000 and December 2019, using the PRISMA extension for Scoping Review checklist. Four reviewers independently screened each article twice for inclusion. Included articles were reviewed again to identify funding sources. Articles were characterized as having explicitly declared funding, explicitly declared no funding, or no explicit funding declaration. Among articles with funding, we examined proportions by funding source. 812 articles met the inclusion criteria. 119 (14.7%) of the articles declared not having received any funding, and 240 (29.6%) had no funding declaration. 453 (55.8%) of the articles declared at least one source of funding. Of those, 221 (48.8%) reported at least one federal grant, and 232 (51.2%) reported at least one philanthropic grant. The number of published articles increased by 328.6% between 2000 and 2019. While the volume increased during the study period, the proportion of articles with funding was lower in 2019 (55.6%) than it was in 2000 (87.5%; proportion difference: 31.9%; 95% CI: 16.7%–47.2%). This study highlights the continued funding limitations in this field despite a growing volume of research.

An Association Between Maternal Intimate Partner Physical Violence and a Loaded Firearm in the Home

A loaded firearm in the home increases the risk of firearm-related mortality. Furthermore, firearms are often used in fatal cases of intimate partner physical violence (IPPV) during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. Young children are often caught in the crossfire. Although firearms are more prevalent in homes with IPPV compared with homes without IPPV, little is known about the relationship between a loaded firearm and maternal IPPV. The objective was to determine whether maternal IPPV in the context of additional psychosocial factors is associated with a loaded firearm in the home. We analyzed population-based survey data (2004-2011) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) in eight states for which questions on firearms were included. Chi-square analysis of independence was used to determine differences between mothers reporting both IPPV and a loaded firearm to mothers reporting IPPV only or a loaded firearm only. Multivariable weighted logistic regression examined the association between IPPV and presence of a loaded firearm in the home (adjusting for sociodemographic and psychosocial factors). Of the 43,845 mothers in our sample, 5.3% mothers reported storing a loaded firearm in the home and 6.7% reported maternal IPPV. Among mothers reporting IPPV, 5% also reported a loaded firearm. When adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics only, maternal IPPV was significantly associated with storing a loaded firearm in the home (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.01, 1.91]). However, after additionally considering psychosocial factors, there was no longer a statistically significant association between maternal IPPV and storing a loaded firearm in the home (aOR = 1.31; 95% CI = [0.93, 1.84]). Contextual factors play an important role in understanding the complex relationship between maternal IPPV and the presence of a loaded firearm in the home, and maternal IPPV should be considered in efforts to promote firearm safety.

New York State and the Nation: Trends in Firearm Purchases and Firearm Violence During the COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND

The impacts of social stressors on violence during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are unknown. We hypothesized that firearm purchases and violence would increase surrounding the pandemic. This study determined the impact of COVID-19 and shelter-in-place (SIP) orders on firearm purchases and incidents in the United States (US) and New York State (NYS).

METHODS

Scatterplots reflected trends in firearm purchases, incidents, and deaths over a 16-month period (January 2019 to April 2020). Bivariate comparisons of SIP and non-SIP jurisdictions before and after SIP (February 2020 vs. April 2020) and April 2020 vs. April 2019 were performed with the Mann-Whitney U test.

RESULTS

The incidence of COVID-19 in the US increased between February and April 2020 from 24 to 1 067 660 and in NYS from 0 to 304 372. When comparing February to March to April in the US, firearm purchases increased 33.6% then decreased 22.0%, whereas firearm incidents increased 12.2% then again increased by 3.6% and firearm deaths increased 23.8% then decreased in April by 3.8%. In NYS, comparing February to March to April 2020, firearm purchases increased 87.6% then decreased 54.8%, firearm incidents increased 110.1% then decreased 30.8%, and firearm deaths increased 57.1% then again increased by 6.1%. In both SIP and non-SIP jurisdictions, April 2020 firearm purchases, incidents, deaths, and injuries were similar to April 2019 and February 2020 (all P = NS).

DISCUSSION

Coronavirus disease 2019-related stressors may have triggered an increase in firearm purchases nationally and within NYS in March 2020. Firearm incidents also increased in NYS. SIP orders had no effect on firearm purchases and firearm violence.

Family Firearm Ownership and Firearm-Related Mortality Among Young Children: 1976-2016

: media-1vid110.1542/5972298231001PEDS-VA_2018-1171Video Abstract BACKGROUND: Firearm-related fatalities are a top 3 cause of death among children in the United States. Despite historical declines in firearm ownership, the firearm-related mortality rate among young children has risen over the past decade. In this study, we examined changes in firearm ownership among families with young children from 1976 to 2016, exploring how such changes relate to recent increases in firearm-related mortality among 1- to 5-year-olds.

METHODS

Individual-level data from the National Vital Statistics System were merged with household-level data from the General Social Survey to create national-level estimates of firearm-related child mortality and family firearm ownership from 1976 to 2016 (n = 41 years). Vector autoregression models were used to examine the association between firearm ownership and child mortality.

RESULTS

The proportion of non-Hispanic white families with young children who owned firearms declined from 50% in 1976 to 45% in 2016 and from 38% to 6% among non-Hispanic African American families. The proportion of white families with young children who owned handguns, however, increased from 25% to 32%; 72% of firearm-owning families with young children now own a handgun. Increases in handgun ownership partially explained the recent rise in firearm-related white child mortality (B = 0.426), net of economic conditions, and sociodemographic characteristics of firearm-owning families.

CONCLUSIONS

Changes in the types of firearms in the homes of US families may partially explain recently rising firearm-related mortality among young white children. These findings hold relevance for pediatricians and policy makers aiming to reduce firearm-related mortality and promote firearm safety in children's homes.

Firearm Ownership in High-Conflict Families: Differences According to State Laws Restricting Firearms to Misdemeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence Offenders

This study examines the association between state laws that prohibit firearm ownership for offenders convicted of misdemeanour crimes of domestic violence (MCDV) and firearm ownership in two-parent families with high-conflict male partners with arrest histories. Mixed effects logistic regression models applied to data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth cohort (n = 5,350) determined that living in a state with laws that prohibited firearm ownership for convicted MCDV offenders decreased the likelihood of firearm ownership among families with high-conflict males by 62%. The length of the time limit length on firearm prohibition was correlated with incremental decreases in firearm ownership in such families, with the probability of firearm ownership among families with high-conflict males decreasing from 30% in states with no MCDV laws restricting access from firearms to 12% in states with permanent prohibition on firearm ownership. These findings have significance for public health policy aimed at decreasing intimate-partner homicide.

Alcohol use and change over time in firearm safety among families with young children

BACKGROUND

Improperly stored firearms pose a clear health risk to children. Previous research concurrently links alcohol use with lower levels of firearm safety. The objectives of this study were to assess (1) how families move from unsafe to safer firearm storage practices and (2) how parental drinking was associated with moving away from unsafe firearm storage practices.

METHODS

This study used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, 2003 when children were two years old and again when they were four years old. Parents were asked about firearm storage practices, alcohol consumption, and information to measure other confounding variables. Their responses were used to identify families who engaged in unsafe firearm storage practices (n = 650) during the initial testing period and to assess how alcohol consumption and other variables were associated with moving to safer firearm storage practices at the second testing period.

RESULTS

Families grew more likely to adopt safer firearm storage practices as their children aged, compared with continuing unsafe practices. Multivariate logistic regressions indicated that parental drinking, however, reduced the likelihood that parents moved to safer storage practices, controlling for covariates. Other families- and community-level variables, in particular, family structure, were also associated with the likelihood of moving to safer firearm storage behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS

Families with higher levels of alcohol use may need additional assistance in addressing firearm safety. The findings call for future research to better understand how physicians can counsel at-risk families to help them store firearms more securely.