September 30, 2020
UW receives $1.5 million CDC grant to study handgun carrying among rural adolescents
Understanding of the culture, scope and developmental patterns of handgun carrying among youth living in rural communities is strikingly limited.Kool Cats Photography/Flickr
With roughly 109 people dying every day and many others treated in emergency rooms from firearm-related injuries — which are the second leading cause of death among adolescents — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has, after decades, stepped in to fund critical firearm research.
The CDC announced on Sept. 23 it would fund 16 studies for a total of more than $7.8 million to understand and prevent firearm violence. The University of Washington’s proposal to study handgun carrying among rural adolescents was awarded a three-year grant totaling roughly $1.5 million.
Related studies:
- Rural kids carrying handguns is ‘not uncommon’ and starts as early as sixth grade
- To reduce gun violence, lift roadblocks to firearm data
- At gun safety events, 40% of gun owners reported not locking all household guns — even around kids
- Age restrictions for handguns make little difference in homicides as US deals with ‘de facto availability’ of firearms
“These awards were made by the CDC after about three decades with no direct funding for this area of research. They herald an era in which we will collectively work with a variety of stakeholders to reduce the burden of this major population health challenge in our communities and beyond,” said Dr. Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, an associate professor of epidemiology in the UW School of Public Health who is leading the UW study. “This is a historic development and consequential milestone for the field of public health in general, and the science of violence and injury prevention in particular.”
The UW study will focus on rural communities where the high levels of firearm access and mortality, cultural influences, attitudes and risks associated with youth handgun carrying are understudied and underserved.
“Handgun carrying is widely recognized as a key risk factor for firearm-related injury among youth living in urban areas, but our knowledge of the culture, scope and developmental patterns of handgun carrying — as well as its determinants and consequences — among youth living in rural communities is strikingly limited,” said Rowhani-Rahbar, who is also the co-director of the Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program at Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center. “This new project will build on about two decades of foundational research conducted by our colleagues in the Social Development Research Group at the University of Washington.”
The UW study will use existing data and collect new data from rural adolescents to:
- Identify opportunities and barriers in firearm injury prevention by improving our understanding of the cultural context of handgun carrying among rural adolescents.
- Determine specific developmental points of intervention by characterizing patterns of handgun carrying in rural communities from early adolescence to young adulthood.
- Examine individual and social-developmental factors that distinguish patterns of handgun carrying in rural communities from early adolescence to young adulthood.
- Test the effect of the Communities That Care prevention system on developmental patterns of handgun carrying among adolescents living in rural communities.
“The goal of this project is to fill this knowledge gap and provide actionable evidence for informing strategies that can prevent firearm-related injury and promote safety among adolescents in rural communities,” said Rowhani-Rahbar.
The study will be conducted through a collaboration with investigators from UW’s Social Development Research Group, Washington State University, Arizona State University and Seattle Children’s Research Institute.
###
For more information, contact Rowhani-Rahbar at rowhani@uw.edu.
Tag(s): Ali Rowhani-Rahbar • Department of Epidemiology • Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program • Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center • population health • School of Public Health
