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A scoping review of patterns, motives, and risk and protective factors for adolescent firearm carriage

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Abstract

Firearm carriage is a key risk factor for interpersonal firearm violence, a leading cause of adolescent (age < 18) mortality. However, the epidemiology of adolescent firearm carriage has not been well characterized. This scoping review examined four databases (PubMed; Scopus; EMBASE; Criminal Justice Abstracts) to summarize research on patterns, motives, and underlying risk/protective factors for adolescent firearm carriage. Of 6156 unique titles, 53 peer-reviewed articles met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. These studies mostly examined urban Black youth, finding that adolescents typically carry firearms intermittently throughout adolescence and primarily for self-defense/protection. Seven future research priorities were identified, including: (1) examining adolescent carriage across age, gender, and racial/ethnic subgroups; (2) improving on methodological limitations of prior research, including disaggregating firearm from other weapon carriage and using more rigorous methodology (e.g., random/systematic sampling; broader population samples); (3) conducting longitudinal analyses that establish temporal causality for patterns, motives, and risk/protective factors; (4) capitalizing on m-health to develop more nuanced characterizations of underlying motives; (5) increasing the study of precursors for first-time carriage; (6) examining risk and protective factors beyond the individual-level; and, (7) enhancing the theoretical foundation for firearm carriage within future investigations.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge Lynn Massey, Laney Rupp, Jhuree Hong, and Carrie Musolf for assistance with the literature search, data abstraction, and manuscript preparation. The authors wish to acknowledge the University of Michigan Taubman Health Sciences Librarian Information Staff, including Judith Smith MS and Gupreet Rana MLIS, for their help with conducting the initial literature and database search.

Funding

This work was funded by NIH/NICHD (Grand No. 1R24HD087149-01A1) and by NIH/NIDA (Grand No. K23DA039341). The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the funding agencies. No honoraria, grants or other form of payment were received for producing this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Firearm Safety Among Children and Teens Consortium, University of Michigan School of Medicine, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Stephen N. Oliphant, Charles A. Mouch, Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, Stephen Hargarten, Jonathan Jay, David Hemenway, Marc Zimmerman & Patrick M. Carter

  2. Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan, 735 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Stephen N. Oliphant

  3. Department of Surgery, University of Michigan School of Medicine, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Charles A. Mouch

  4. Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Health Sciences Bldg, F-262, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Ali Rowhani-Rahbar

  5. Harborview Injury Prevention and Research, Center University of Washington, 401 Broadway, 4th Floor, Seattle, WA, 98122, USA

    Ali Rowhani-Rahbar

  6. Department of Emergency Medicine and Comprehensive Injury Center, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd., Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA

    Stephen Hargarten

  7. Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 3rd & 4th Floors, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Jonathan Jay & David Hemenway

  8. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan School of Medicine, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Patrick M. Carter

  9. Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School Public Health, 1415 Washington Heights 3790A SPH I, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Marc Zimmerman & Patrick M. Carter

  10. Youth Violence Prevention Center, Univ. of Michigan School of Public Health, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Marc Zimmerman & Patrick M. Carter

  11. Department of Emergency Medicine, Univ. of Michigan Injury Prevention Center, University of Michigan School of Medicine, 2800 Plymouth Road, NCRC 10-G080, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Marc Zimmerman & Patrick M. Carter

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  1. Stephen N. Oliphant
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Stephen N. Oliphant, Charles A. Mouch, Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, Stephen Hargarten, Jonathan Jay, David Hemenway, Marc Zimmerman, and Patrick M. Carter declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Sample database search for articles in PubMed

Date Searched: April 8, 2018.

Filters: Publication date from 1985/01/01 to 2018/12/31.

(((gun[tiab] OR guns[tiab] OR handgun*[tiab] OR firearm*[tiab] OR firearms[MeSH Terms] OR gunshot*[tiab] OR shooting[tiab]) AND (homicide[tiab] OR homicides[tiab] OR murder*[tiab] OR fatalities[tiab] OR “homicide”[MeSH Terms] OR killing[tiab] OR killings[tiab] OR death[tiab] OR deaths[tiab] OR “death”[MeSH Terms] OR “accidents”[MeSH Terms] OR accident*[tiab] OR unintentional[tiab] OR suicide[tiab] OR suicides[tiab] OR suicidal[tiab] OR “suicide”[MeSH Terms] OR “Wounds and Injuries”[Mesh] OR injury[tiab] OR injuries[tiab] OR mortality[tiab] OR non-fatal[tiab] OR nonfatal[tiab] OR wounds,gunshot[mesh] OR united states/epidemiology[mesh]) AND (adolescent[MeSH Terms] OR youth[MeSH Terms] OR child[MeSH Terms] OR teenager[Title/Abstract] OR teen[Title/Abstract] OR adolescen*[Title/Abstract] OR child[Title/Abstract] OR youth[title/abstract] OR children[Title/Abstract] OR minor[Title/Abstract] OR minors[title/abstract] OR delinquent[Title/Abstract] OR delinquency[Title/Abstract] OR pediatric*[Title/Abstract] OR juvenile*[tiab] OR parent*[tiab]))) NOT (((((economics[MeSH Subheading] OR cost[Title/Abstract] OR costs[Title/Abstract] OR “cost-effectiveness”[tiab] OR costs and cost analysis[MeSH Terms] OR economic*[tiab] OR productivity[tiab] OR expenditure*[tiab] OR quality of life[mesh] OR “quality of life”[tiab] OR “quality-adjusted life years”[mesh] OR QALY[tiab]))) OR ((Possession[tiab] OR possess[tiab] OR storage[tiab] OR carriage[tiab] OR carrying[tiab] OR carry[tiab] OR own[tiab] OR owner[tiab] OR ownership[tiab] OR ownership[mesh]))) OR ((“Adolescent Behavior”[Mesh] OR “Behavioral Symptoms”[Mesh] OR “Firearms/statistics and numerical data”[Mesh] OR “Family Relations”[Mesh] OR “Social Behavior”[Mesh] OR “Accidents, Home”[Mesh] OR “Social Environment”[Mesh] OR “Residence Characteristics”[Mesh] OR “Sex Distribution”[Mesh] OR “Family Characteristics”[Mesh] OR “Sex Factors”[Mesh] OR “Population Surveillance”[Mesh] OR “Rural Population”[Mesh] OR “Urban Population”[Mesh] OR “Self-Injurious Behavior”[Mesh] OR “Schools”[Mesh] OR “Violence”[Mesh] OR “Crime Victims”[Mesh] OR (firearms[Mesh] AND culture[Mesh]) OR “Exposure to Violence”[Mesh] OR “Communications Media”[Mesh] OR “Mass Casualty Incidents”[Mesh] OR “Substance-Related Disorders”[Mesh] OR “Street Drugs”[Mesh] OR “Prescription Drugs”[Mesh] OR “Prescription Drug Misuse”[Mesh] OR (Ownership[Mesh] AND Firearms[Mesh]) OR “firearm ownership”[ti] OR (firearm*[ti] AND access[ti]) OR storage[ti] OR “firearm storage”[ti] OR “firearm availability”[ti] OR (Firearm[ti] AND Acquisition[ti]) OR (Illegal[ti] AND Firearm[ti]) OR “interpersonal violence”[ti] OR victimization[ti] OR “self-defense”[ti] OR “self-defence”[ti] OR “self-injury”[ti] OR “self-inflicted”[ti] OR “self-harm”[ti] OR “gun culture”[ti] OR (exposure[ti] AND “gun violence”[ti]) OR ((home[ti] OR household[ti]) AND (firearms[Mesh] OR gun[ti])) OR “community violence”[ti] OR “neighborhood violence”[ti] OR “mass shooting*”[ti] OR “mass violence”[ti] OR “substance abuse”[ti] OR “drug abuse”[ti] OR “illegal drug*”[ti] OR rural[ti] OR urban[ti]))).

Appendix 2: Modified Newcastle–Ottawa Scales used for individual article quality assessment

See Table 4.

Table 4 Modified Newcastle–Ottawa Scale for cross-sectional studies
Full size table

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Oliphant, S.N., Mouch, C.A., Rowhani-Rahbar, A. et al. A scoping review of patterns, motives, and risk and protective factors for adolescent firearm carriage. J Behav Med 42, 763–810 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-019-00048-x

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