Access to firearms for Californians ages 15 –24 associated with increased suicide risk

Key takeawaysIn 2022, youth who had access to firearms were approximately twice as likely to have attempted suicide during their lifetime.Youth who expressed worry about being a victim of firearm violence were nearly twice as likely to report suicidal thoughts compared to youth  who didn’t express those concerns.1 in 4 California adolescents ages 15 –17 and nearly 1 in 3 Californians ages 18–24 said they had suicidal thoughts at least once in their lifetime.Fears of gun violence and access to firearms showed troubling connections to suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among Californians ages 15 –24, say the authors of anew study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.Using data from the 2021 and 2022 California Health Interview Survey, or CHIS, the researchers found that youth who expressed worries about being a victim of gun violence were nearly twice as likely to report suicidal thoughts in their lifetime compared to those who didn ’t express those concerns.For 2022 specifically, researchers found that youth who said they had access to firearms were approximately two times more likely to have made a suicide attempt in their lifetimes compared to those who said they didn ’t have access to firearms.“What we’ve learned in this study reinforces the importance of thinking about firearms regulations less as a political issue and more as a public health issue, because that’s what the data show,” said Ninez Ponce, director of the UCLA Center for Healt...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news