Firearms and Suicide Risk: Implications for Preventing Mortality and Morbidity Among California’s Youth
Summary: Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents ages 15–17 and young adults ages 18–24, collectively referred to as youth. There are important subpopulations where little is known about possible risks for firearm injury, including youth. In this policy brief, authors use pooled 2021 and 2022 California Health Interview Survey to report population-level estimates for associations between firearm proximity and psychological distress as well as lifetime history of suicide ideation and suicide attempts of California youth.
Findings: More than half a million young adults and more than 20,000 adolescents in California reported owning or having access to at least one firearm at home. About one-quarter or more of California adolescents ages 15–17 reported having suicidal thoughts at least once in their life, and one-third of that group reported having made a suicide attempt in their lifetime. For Californians ages 18–24, nearly one-third reported having thoughts of suicide in their lifetime, and nearly one-third of that group reported having made a suicide attempt in their lifetime. Also, compared with youth with no access to firearms, youth who expressed concerns about firearm victimization were approximately twice as likely to report suicidal thoughts in their lifetime compared to youths with no such concerns.
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