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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Mary G. Vriniotis, MS and David Hemenway, PhD. Harvard Injury Control Research Center, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave., 3rd Fl., Boston, MA 02115, (617)432-4892, mvriniot@hsph.harvard.edu

Purpose: Gun carrying poses a serious threat to schools and communities across the U.S. Identifying factors that may be associated with gun carrying is important for successful youth violence prevention.

Methods: Using data from the 2004 Boston Youth Survey, a random sample of 1079 adolescents, we examined (a) correlates of carrying a concealed gun anywhere outside the home, and (b) reasons for gun carrying.

Results: Eight percent of respondents carried a gun in the past year (boys: 14%; girls: 3%). Bivariate as well as multivariate analyses controlling for age, sex, race, household type, being born in the U.S., racial discrimination, feelings of safety, and exposure to violence indicated that gun carrying was associated with: male gender (OR=4.4), ever hitting or trying to hurt someone (OR=2.4), thinking guns are fairly or very easy to obtain (OR=5.2), feeling unsafe in at least two locations (OR=1.7), experiencing racial discrimination (OR=1.9), inability to confide in a parent/guardian (OR=2.1), and violence victimization (OR=2.0). Gun carrying was not associated with participation on sports teams or in other after-school programs, depression, self-esteem, or hopefulness about the future in bi- or multivariate analyses. Half of those who gave a reason for carrying indicated they felt unsafe in their neighborhood.

Conclusions: Our findings support previous research linking gun carrying and violence perpetration and indicate that the type of violence exposure (direct victimization vs. witnessing violence) may affect the likelihood of gun carrying. They do not support previous research linking hopefulness about the future to decreased gun carrying.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify risk factors associated with gun carrying
• List potential protective factors that were NOT associated with less gun carrying
• Prioritize strategies for reducing gun carrying

Keywords: Firearms, Youth Violence

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered