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 Earlier involvement with weapons is also tied to higher future odds
of carrying or using a gun or knife for youth in all three groups,
the study found.
Among teens that carried weapons, 17 percent had shot or stabbed
someone in the past year, the analysis of survey data also found.
“Based on data from our study, the majority of teens who carry
weapons had not shot or stabbed anyone,” said lead author Dr. Rashmi
Shetgiri of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
“Weapon carrying and weapon use are correlated with each other, so
it is not surprising that a proportion of youth who carried weapons
also had used weapons,” Shetgiri added by email.
At a time when almost 13 percent of U.S. high school students report
being victimized by weapons, Shetgiri and colleagues took a look at
data from the 1990s when this wasn’t so common and searched for
clues that might explain what factors could motivate kids to today
to reach for guns and knives.
Researchers analyzed responses from national surveys of 20,745
students in grades 7 through 12 and 17,670 of their parents done in
1994 and 1995, as well as follow-up surveys with 14,738 of the teen
participants done in 1996. The teen interviews were approximately
one year apart.
Roughly 13 percent of black, 10 percent of Hispanic and 7 percent of
white high school students said they were involved with weapons.
Compared to youth who didn’t use weapons at the start of the study,
white teens that did were five times more likely to also do so at
the time of the second interview, the survey found. Black teens had
more than four times the odds of using weapons at the end if they
did so at the start, while for Hispanic adolescents the chances were
more than six times higher.
Violence exposure, alcohol use and peer delinquency were risk
factors for white and black teens using weapons. It’s possible that
among teens exposed to violence, weapon carrying may be in
self-defense or a response to fear of violence, the authors note.
Gun availability in the home was a factor associated only with
weapons involvement for black teens, the study also found.
High educational aspirations, however, were associated with a
decreased risk of weapons involvement for both black and Hispanic
teens, and stronger family connections was also a deterrent for
Hispanic youth.
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One limitation of the study is that data dates back two decades, the
authors note in the Journal of Pediatrics. They also lacked data on
youth who were not attending school or who were incarcerated, which
might downplay weapons use.
Even so, the findings suggest that strategies to reduce teen weapon
violence might focus on some common factors such as mental health
and substance abuse, as well as certain contributors that may vary
by race or ethnicity, the authors suggest.
“Knowing which groups are victimized or who have certain high risk
behaviors can help healthcare providers and public health systems
anticipate social support and education needs,” Dr. Denise Dowd, a
researcher at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City who wasn’t
involved in the study said by email.
The best approach also depends on what issue is most urgent to
solve, noted Kimberly Mitchell, a researcher at the Crimes Against
Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire who
wasn’t involved in the study.
“If the immediate and main concern is carrying the weapon, steps
like metal detectors and police presence may be the approach,”
Mitchell said by email.
“Since carrying and using a weapon rarely occurs in isolation … we
often recommend a broader approach to prevention such as
socio-emotional learning programs which aim to help people
understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, fell
and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive
relationships, and make responsible decisions,” Mitchell added.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1nRXRHa Journal of Pediatrics, published
online January 14, 2016.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
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