Bullying and physical violence and their association with handgun carrying among youth growing up in rural areas.
Alice M Ellyson, Emma Gause, Vivian H Lyons, Julia P Schleimer, Kimberly Dalve, Margaret R Kuklinski, Sabrina Oesterle, Elizabeth H Weybright, Ali Rowhani-Rahbar
Author Information
Alice M Ellyson: Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific St., Box 356320, Seattle, WA 98195-6320, United States; Firearm Injury and Policy Research Program, University of Washington, 401 Broadway, 4th Floor, Seattle, WA 98122, United States; Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, M/S CW8-5, PO BOX 5371, Seattle, WA 98145-5005, United States. Electronic address: aellyson@uw.edu.
Emma Gause: Firearm Injury and Policy Research Program, University of Washington, 401 Broadway, 4th Floor, Seattle, WA 98122, United States.
Vivian H Lyons: Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, 9725 Third Ave NE, Ste 401, Seattle, WA 98115, United States.
Julia P Schleimer: Firearm Injury and Policy Research Program, University of Washington, 401 Broadway, 4th Floor, Seattle, WA 98122, United States; Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Box 351619, Seattle, WA, United States.
Kimberly Dalve: Firearm Injury and Policy Research Program, University of Washington, 401 Broadway, 4th Floor, Seattle, WA 98122, United States; Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Box 351619, Seattle, WA, United States.
Margaret R Kuklinski: Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, 9725 Third Ave NE, Ste 401, Seattle, WA 98115, United States.
Sabrina Oesterle: Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center, School of Social Work, Arizona State University, 201 N Central Ave, Floor 33, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States.
Elizabeth H Weybright: Department of Human Development, Washington State University, 512 Johnson Tower, PO Box 644852, Pullman, WA 99164-4852, United States.
Ali Rowhani-Rahbar: Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific St., Box 356320, Seattle, WA 98195-6320, United States; Firearm Injury and Policy Research Program, University of Washington, 401 Broadway, 4th Floor, Seattle, WA 98122, United States; Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Box 351619, Seattle, WA, United States.
OBJECTIVES: This study builds on prior research showing a strong relationship between handgun carrying and delinquent behaviors among urban youth by examining the association between handgun carrying trajectories and various types of violence in a rural sample. METHODS: This study uses data from a longitudinal cohort study of 2002 public school students in the United States from 12 rural communities across 7 states from ages 12-26 (2005-2019). We used logistic regressions to assess associations of various bullying and physical violence behaviors with latent trajectories of handgun carrying from adolescence through young adulthood. RESULTS: Compared to youth with very low probabilities of carrying a handgun in adolescence and young adulthood, trajectories with high probabilities of handgun carrying during adolescence or young adulthood were associated with greater odds of using bullying (odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 1.9 to 11.2) and higher odds of using physical violence during adolescence (ORs ranging from 1.5 to 15.9) and young adulthood (ORs ranging from 1.9 to 4.7). These trajectories with higher probabilities of handgun carrying were also associated with greater odds of experiencing physical violence like parental physical abuse and intimate partner violence, but not bullying. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION: Experiencing and using bullying and physical violence were associated with specific patterns of handgun carrying among youth growing up in rural areas. Handgun carrying could be an important focus of violence prevention programs among those youth.
