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

Gun violence victims experience severe distress

Victims of violent crimes involving firearms are more susceptible to high levels of distress than those of crimes involving other weapons or no weapon, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

“In 2015, firearms were involved in more than 250,000 nonfatal victimizations in the United States,” Rose M.C. Kagawa, PhD, MPH, from the University of California, Davis, and colleagues wrote. “Physicians are familiar with the physical consequences of firearm violence, but less is known about the firearm-specific mental health consequences. The perceived level of threat to a person’s life during a traumatic event may influence his or her mental health response. Because firearms are highly lethal weapons, their presence may exacerbate the mental health effects of violent victimization.”

Kagawa and colleagues analyzed cross-sectional data from the National Crime Victimization Survey to determine if firearm involvement in a violent victimization increases the prevalence of severe distress and social functioning problems, compared with other weapons and no weapons. The researchers included 7,119 individuals aged 12 years or older who experienced violent victimization, such as an attack, a threat of attack or attempted harm, within the 6 months prior to the study.

Firearms were present in 715 victimizations, whereas other weapons, such as rocks, knives and axes, were present in 1,054 and no weapon was present in 5,350. Participants were interviewed on whether they experienced distress due to being a crime victim and whether the victimization caused severe social problems at work or school or with family or friends.

Data indicated that 26% of participants experienced severe distress because of the victimization and 27% had issues at work or school or with family or friends. Severe distress was more prevalent among participants exposed to violent victimizations involving firearms than those involving other weapons (prevalence ratio = 1.27; 95% CI, 1.06-1.51) or no weapons (prevalence ratio = 1.63; 95% CI, 1.38-1.93). There was no significant difference in social functioning problems among the three groups.

“These findings suggest that firearm violence has unique negative effects on mental health in addition to well-understood effects on physical health and that patients victimized with a firearm may require special attention,” Kagawa and colleagues concluded. “They also highlight the emotional costs that might be avoided by investing in efforts to prevent firearm violence.” – by Alaina Tedesco

Disclosure: Kagawa reports receiving grants from the Robertson Fellowship in Violence Prevention Research and the Heising Simons Foundation. Please see study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.