This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Young men exposed to violence more likely to carry guns

Addressing the psychological harms that occur in young men who are repeatedly exposed to violence may be crucial in reducing gun carrying and gun violence among this high-risk, vulnerable population, according to data published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

“Gun violence and psychological problems are often conflated in public discourse on gun safety,” Joan A. Reid, PhD, from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, and colleagues wrote. “However, few studies have empirically assessed the effect of exposure to violence when exploring the association between gun carrying and psychological distress.”

Reid and colleagues performed a longitudinal cohort study to assess how exposure to violence, gun possession and psychological distress are related among vulnerable adolescents. These characteristics were evaluated in 1,170 male youths aged 14 to 19 years who had been found guilty of a serious criminal offense in Philadelphia or Phoenix at baseline and at four 6-month intervals between 2000 and 2003.

Psychological distress was measured at baseline and follow-up assessments using participants’ Global Severity index scores which were calculated from their self-reported responses to a Brief Symptom Inventory — a 53-item inventory on the extent to which participants have been bothered (not at all to extremely) in the past week by a multitude of symptoms from nine groups including somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychoticism.

The researchers found that gun carrying resulted in higher levels of psychological distress at the bivariate level; however, when taking exposure to violence into account, this association was reduced or nonexistent. In addition, for three of the four assessments, Global Severity Index was a significant predictor of a participant’s likelihood to carry a gun. At all follow-up assessments, data showed that exposure to violence, either as a victim or witness, was significantly associated with gun carrying at all four time intervals.

“Like other work in this area, these results do not provide strong support for psychological symptoms alone as markers of increased risk for violence-related behaviors, such as gun carrying,” Reid and colleagues wrote. “Rather, the results suggest that pathways to gun carrying are complex.”

“Our findings highlight the importance of prevention and intervention strategies aimed at certain vulnerable subpopulations of people who may experience heightened violence as a victim, a witness, or both,” they concluded. – by Alaina Tedesco

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.