Zhang Xiaoya, Aubel Amanda J, Bruns Angela, Buggs Shani A L, Kravitz-Wirtz Nicole
University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.
University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, USA.
J Interpers Violence. 2025 Mar 24:8862605251326690. doi: 10.1177/08862605251326690.
Mounting evidence suggests that gun violence occurring within a community can affect community members even when they do not experience it firsthand. Building on this expanded view of exposure, the present study examined the effects of environmental exposure to gun violence-that is, living or attending school within 1,300 m of a past-year firearm homicide occurrence-on adolescents' problem behaviors (delinquent, externalizing, and internalizing behaviors) using data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study merged with information on firearm homicide incidents from the Gun Violence Archive ( = 3,086; girls: = 1,504; Black/white/Latinx/other: = 525/1,547/773/241). Employing propensity score matching methods, we estimated the average effects of environmental gun violence exposure on adolescents' problem behaviors and assessed heterogeneity in these effects across subgroups of youth with different exposure probabilities (low, moderate, and high). While average effects were not observed, environmental gun violence exposure was associated with increased delinquent (but not externalizing) behavior among adolescents, particularly girls, with low risk of exposure and decreased internalizing behavior among adolescents with low and moderate risk of exposure. These findings highlight the importance of investigating the differential impacts of gun violence exposure across subgroups with varying pre-exposure risks. Adolescents at relatively low risk of exposure may benefit from supportive services to address behavior problems in the aftermath of gun violence; though, resources for adolescents with elevated pre-exposure risks remain vital for redressing broader inequities that contribute to gun violence in the first place.
越来越多的证据表明，社区内发生的枪支暴力事件会影响社区成员，即使他们没有亲身经历过。基于这种对暴露范围的扩展观点，本研究利用“家庭与儿童幸福未来研究”的数据，并结合“枪支暴力档案”中关于枪支杀人事件的信息（样本量n =
3,086；女孩：n = 1,504；黑人/白人/拉丁裔/其他：n = 525/1,547/773/241），考察了环境暴露于枪支暴力（即在过去一年发生枪支杀人事件的1300米范围内居住或上学）对青少年问题行为（犯罪行为、外化行为和内化行为）的影响。我们采用倾向得分匹配方法，估计了环境枪支暴力暴露对青少年问题行为的平均影响，并评估了这些影响在不同暴露概率（低、中、高）的青少年亚组中的异质性。虽然未观察到平均影响，但环境枪支暴力暴露与暴露风险低的青少年，尤其是女孩的犯罪行为（而非外化行为）增加有关，与暴露风险低和中等的青少年的内化行为减少有关。这些发现凸显了调查枪支暴力暴露在不同暴露前风险亚组中的差异影响的重要性。暴露风险相对较低的青少年可能会受益于支持性服务，以解决枪支暴力后的行为问题；不过，对于暴露前风险较高的青少年来说，资源对于纠正最初导致枪支暴力的更广泛的不平等现象仍然至关重要。
