Altikriti Sultan, Semenza Daniel C, Anestis Michael D
New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
School of Public Health, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
Inj Epidemiol. 2025 Aug 7;12(1):46. doi: 10.1186/s40621-025-00604-x.
Gun violence exposure (GVE) is associated with a range of cognitive and behavioral outcomes. However, few studies have assessed how different forms of GVE relate to perceptions of safety, threat sensitivity, and views about the utility of firearms, and how these factors together influence firearm-related behavior. Moreover, studies have not explored whether these effects may differ by political orientation. This study examines how GVE is associated with perceptions of safety, threat sensitivity, and firearm utility, and how these perceptions relate to firearm carrying and storage practices across political groups.
The data for this study come from a subset of adults with firearm access (n = 3,042) drawn from a nationally representative sample of 8,010 U.S. adults. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the relationships between GVE, threat sensitivity, perceptions about the utility of firearms, perceived neighborhood safety, and firearm-related outcomes. Multiple-group SEM assessed how political orientation affects those relationships.
Liberals were more cognitively responsive to GVE (i.e., increased threat sensitivity and decreased neighborhood safety), while conservatives were more behaviorally responsive (i.e., increased carrying). Additionally, perceived utility of firearms was the most robust predictor of carrying and unsecure storage, consistently predicting firearm-related behavior in the general sample and within each group.
GVE can occur through multiple means, direct and indirect, each with distinct effects on perceptions of safety, threat, and firearm utility, as well as on firearm-related behavior. The perceived utility of firearms seems to play a central role in the relationship between GVE and firearm-related behavior. Political affiliation influences how individuals interpret and respond to such exposure. Future research should investigate the reasons for group differences in response to GVE.
接触枪支暴力（GVE）与一系列认知和行为结果相关。然而，很少有研究评估不同形式的枪支暴力暴露如何与安全感、威胁敏感度以及对枪支效用的看法相关，以及这些因素如何共同影响与枪支相关的行为。此外，研究尚未探讨这些影响是否因政治倾向而异。本研究考察了枪支暴力暴露如何与安全感、威胁敏感度和枪支效用相关，以及这些认知如何与不同政治群体的枪支携带和存放行为相关。
本研究的数据来自从8010名美国成年人的全国代表性样本中抽取的有机会接触枪支的成年人子集（n = 3042）。采用结构方程模型（SEM）来评估枪支暴力暴露、威胁敏感度、对枪支效用的看法、感知的邻里安全以及与枪支相关的结果之间的关系。多组结构方程模型评估了政治倾向如何影响这些关系。
自由派在认知上对枪支暴力暴露反应更强（即威胁敏感度增加，邻里安全感降低），而保守派在行为上反应更强（即携带枪支增加）。此外，对枪支效用的感知是携带枪支和不安全存放的最有力预测因素，在总体样本和每个群体中都一致地预测与枪支相关的行为。
枪支暴力暴露可通过多种直接和间接方式发生，每种方式对安全感、威胁和枪支效用的认知以及与枪支相关的行为都有不同影响。对枪支效用的感知似乎在枪支暴力暴露与枪支相关行为之间的关系中起核心作用。政治派别会影响个体对这种暴露的解读和反应方式。未来的研究应调查不同群体对枪支暴力暴露反应存在差异的原因。
