Correlates of Gun Involvement and Aggressiveness among Adolescents

Author: Ding, Cody S. / Nelsen, Edward A. / Lassonde, Cynthia T.
Publication: Youth & Society
Topics: Gender Gun Carrying Ownership Social Science Urban/Rural
Keywords: ADOLESCENT psychology AGGRESSIVENESS Adolescent Problems and Treatment Child and Adolescent Misconduct Firearms
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The authors use data from a questionnaire completed by 167 male and 167 female junior high school students in a semi-rural community in New York to examine the quality of their relationships with parents, their recreational experiences with guns, their beliefs about the effects of gun use, their emotional and aggressive reactivity, and their aggressive behavior. Small correlations were observed, but overall males with more gun experience reported that they reacted more violently to frustration and participated in more violence-related incidents. Both males and females whose families owned and used guns believed that gun use did not have adverse effects.