Guns in the Home and the Possibility of Aggressive Tendencies: Exploring a Community Sample of Adolescents in Low-Income Communities.
Firearm violence has been the second leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults in the United States since 2000 and is a major public health concern. But firearms may be related to less lethal forms of violence as well. Here we examine the relationship between the presence of a gun in the home and several behavioral and psychosocial measures related to aggression and violence among adolescents using data from a community-based survey of nearly 2,000 youths living in low-income neighborhoods. Our results indicate that adolescents living in homes where a gun is present display more aggressive attitudes and behaviors than their counterparts living in homes with no gun present. More research is needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying the relationships, but they may relate to a weapon's effect or social learning.
a Department of Community Medicine , Mercer University , Macon , Georgia , USA.
Brad
B
Lian
b Health Policy Administration and Demography , The Pennsylvania State University, University Park , Pennsylvania , USA.
Beatrice
B
Abiero
c Department of Public Health , Mercer University , Macon , Georgia , USA.
Paula
P
Kamara
D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005389:Firearms; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011204:Poverty Areas; D014481:United States
Firearms; aggression; neighborhoods; poverty; violence; youth