Adverse childhood experiences and adolescent handgun carrying

Abstract

PurposeConsiderable research has shown that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with well-known correlates of handgun carrying, such as delinquent peer association, substance use, and police contact and/or arrest. Yet, little to no research to date has explicitly examined the potential role of ACEs in adolescent handgun carrying. The current study examines this important gap in existing literature. MethodsData drawn from the 2022 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS, n = 23,078), a statewide representative sample of Florida high School students, were analyzed to examine the associations between individual ACEs and cumulative ACEs and carrying a handgun in the past 12 months. ResultsExposure to ACEs, such as family incarceration, family violence, and parental separation/divorce increased the likelihood of carrying a handgun three or more times in the past 12 months. Moreover, a dose-response relationship was identified between ACEs and handgun carrying, wherein, the more ACEs an adolescent was exposed to, the more likely they were to have carried a handgun in the past 12 months. ConclusionsThis study highlights the contribution of ACEs to adolescent handgun carrying behaviors.