These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Episodic and persistent gun-carrying among urban African-American adolescents.
    Author: Steinman KJ, Zimmerman MA.
    Journal: J Adolesc Health; 2003 May; 32(5):356-64. PubMed ID: 12729985.
    Abstract:
    PURPOSE: To examine whether similar risk factors influenced episodic and persistent gun-carrying among urban African-American adolescents. METHODS: The sample consisted of 705 African-American youths (48.9% male; mean age at baseline = 14.56 years) who were interviewed annually throughout high school as part of a larger study on students who leave school before graduation. Episodic gun-carrying was defined as carrying a gun during one or two waves of the study. Persistent gun-carrying involved carrying a gun during three or four waves. Data were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression to test how risk factors assessed at ninth grade influenced the persistence of gun-carrying. RESULTS: Fifteen percent of students reported carrying a gun episodically, and 5% persistently. "Male gender" (OR = 3.61, 95% CI = 2.16-6.04), "adult weapon-carrying" (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.20-2.09), "marijuana use" (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.01-1.06), "selling drugs" (OR = 3.24, 95% CI = 1.52-6.92), and "fighting" (OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.14-2.15) distinguished noncarriers from episodic carriers. Frequency of fighting (OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.00-2.57) and selling drugs (OR = 3.29, 95% CI = 1.16-9.35) distinguished episodic gun-carriers from persistent gun-carriers. Variables associated with victimization did not uniquely differentiate among the patterns of gun-carrying. These results were similar for males and females. CONCLUSIONS: Similar risk factors characterize episodic and persistent gun-carrying. Specifically, selling drugs and fighting had a strong dose-response relationship with the persistence of gun-carrying. In this population, episodic gun-carrying should be viewed as very risky and not merely as youthful experimentation or a defensive behavior.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]