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 About one in 33 kids are directly assaulted during incidents
involving guns or knives, researchers report in the journal
Pediatrics.
“Millions of children are being exposed to violence involving
weapons, and many of them are victimized by guns and knives, with an
elevated risk of trauma and serious injury,” said lead study author
Kimberly Mitchell, a scientist at the Crimes Against Children
Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.
All told, more than 17.5 million children in the U.S. are witnesses
to, or victims of, assaults with weapons – far exceeding the number
of kids who have diabetes or cancer. The experiences put them at
increased risk for depression, anxiety and other mental health
disorders as well as difficulties with school, work and
relationships.
Mitchell and colleagues analyzed data from a national telephone
survey of 4,114 children aged 2 to 17 years. Roughly half were at
least 10 years old and answered their own questions during the phone
interviews with researchers. Caregivers answered questions on behalf
of kids under 10.
Slightly more than half of the participants were boys. About 57
percent of the kids in the study were white, while 15 percent were
black and 19 percent were Latino.
Many lived with two adults, whether their biological or adoptive
parents or stepparents, while about 36 percent of the kids lived
with single parents or another caregiver.
Families in the study came from all income levels, with about 62
percent of children living in middle-class households.
Boys, minorities, and kids from low-income families or households
not headed by two biological or adoptive parents were most likely to
be exposed to weapon violence, the study found.
Much of the violence involved objects such as sticks, rocks,
bottles, but about 3 percent of children reported exposure to guns
and knives.
Gun and knife violence didn’t vary by gender, although older
children were more likely to experience it. The odds of being a
witness or victim in an attack with these lethal weapons were higher
for kids not living with their biological or adoptive parents as
well as for kids who carried these weapons themselves or had friends
who did.
“This study represents typical American kids at a range of incomes
and shows that their exposure to violence is very widespread and
common,” said Dr. Denise Dowd, a specialist in pediatric emergency
medicine at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City,
Missouri.
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Children who are repeatedly exposed to weapons, whether it’s
domestic violence or gangs or bullying or fighting at school, are at
risk for particularly troubling outcomes, said Dowd, who wasn’t
involved in the study. These kids can experience what’s known as
toxic stress, when traumatic events produce changes in the brain
that can lead to other health problems.
Stress sets off alarms in the brain that trigger the nervous system
to release hormones to sharpen the senses, tense the muscles, speed
up the pulse and deepen breathing. Commonly called a flight or
flight response, this biological reaction helps people defend
themselves in threatening situations.
Routine exposure to stress can lead to immune system problems, heart
disease, nervous system complications and mental health disorders,
previous research has found.
“When you are exposed to this toxic stress, the fight or flight
instinct is all you have, whether you’re being attacked by a bear in
the woods or your father comes home drunk and screaming at you,”
said Dowd. “These kids can shut down or they can become
hypersensitive and ready to fight at the slightest provocation.”
Often, exposure to weapons happens in the home, making it crucial
that parents keep guns locked, unloaded and out of reach, she said.
Parents should also be on the lookout for signs that kids may be
experiencing violence at school or in the community. Even when
children don’t talk about it, they might indicate a potential
problem by refusing to go to school, complaining of headaches or
stomachaches that don’t appear to have a medical cause.
“The most important thing any parent can do is create a home
environment that’s nurturing and supportive,” she said. “And, be
attuned to sudden changes in how children act because before they
have words for what is going on their bodies will respond.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1kCYrQ1 Pediatrics, online June 8, 2015.
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