Abstract
Objective
This study compares current suicidal ideation, prior suicide attempt and associated
self-reported risk factors in adolescents with and without access to firearms.
Methods
Using data from a clinically applied behavioral health assessment completed by adolescents
presenting to a tertiary children's hospital emergency department (ED; N = 15,806),
we evaluated the association between firearm access (ie, firearm in the home or ability
to obtain one within 24 hours), each of the included suicide risk factors (ie, depressive
symptoms, trauma victimization, bullying victimization), and our primary outcomes
(ie, current suicidal ideation and prior suicide attempt). We performed regression
analyses on 3 groups: 1) The overall population; 2) Only the participants with firearm
access; and 3) Only the participants without firearm access.
Results
Fourteen percent (2179/15,806) of the sample reported a firearm in the home or ability
to access one within 24 hours. Overall, 6.8% of participants reported current suicidal
ideation and 9.1% reported prior suicide attempt. Youth with firearm access had 1.52
times higher odds of current suicidal ideation and 1.61 times higher odds of prior
suicide attempt compared to youth without firearm access. All included suicide risk
factors were found to significantly increase the odds of current suicidal ideation
and prior suicide attempt in the overall sample; this increase was similar in the
groups with and without firearm access.
Conclusions
Adolescents with firearm access have higher odds of suicidal ideation and prior attempt
compared to those without firearm access, highlighting the need for universal ED-based
screening for suicidality and lethal means.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: May 14, 2022
Accepted:
May 11,
2022
Received:
February 25,
2021
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofFootnotes
Conflict of Interest: The Behavioral Health Screening tool is owned by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and licensed to MDLogix, Inc, a health science informatics and computer science engineering company who make the screening tool commercially available. Dr Fein might one day receive a small royalty payment for his role in developing the tool. Dr Kemal, Dr Krass, Dr Brogan, Dr Min, and Mr Quarshie do not report financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.
Identification
Copyright
Copyright © 2022 by Academic Pediatric Association
