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Citation
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Conner KR, Peters K, Conwell Y, Hutchison M, Hutchison M, Kannan V, Lapham S, Chapman BP. Am. J. Prev. Med. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub. |
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Abstract
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INTRODUCTION: There are meager individual-level data on long-term predictors of firearm suicide.
METHODS: This was an analysis of males (n=189,558) in the Project Talent (PT) cohort, a national probability sample of high school schools in 1960 when students completed a baseline PT self-report inventory. Mortality follow-up was contingent on survival until 1979, the onset of the National Death Index, when the cohort was mean age 35.7. Mortality follow-up continued until death or age 75, reached by all surviving members by 2018. Analyses were conducted in 2022, with the main outcome firearm suicide deaths (n=479). Factor analyses of PT items yielded three key factors: (1) interests in firearm-related professions (i.e., military service, police force); (2) interests in hunting or fishing and knowledge of long guns; and (3) stereotypic masculinity.
RESULTS: Survival analyses showed long-term risk for firearm suicide was associated with 1-standard-deviation increases in firearm-related vocational interests in adolescence, adjusted hazard ratio, AHR [95% CI] = 1.23 [1.09, 1.40], and masculinity, AHR [95% CI] = 1.15 [1.04, 1.28]. Decreased long-term firearm suicide risk was associated with increased hunting interests and knowledge of long guns in adolescence, AHR [95% CI] = 0.86 [0.77, 0.96] and competitive sports participation, an exploratory variable, AHR [95% CI] = 0.89 [0.80, 0.99].
CONCLUSIONS: Prevention efforts are needed to lower long-term firearm suicide risk among adolescent males with high stereotypic masculinity and those interested in military or police service. Potential protective effects of competitive sports participation and socialization to long guns through hunting require further study.
Language: en |