Individuals’ Experience of Violence in Adolescence and Firearm Violence Victimization in Early Adulthood

Abstract

Firearm violence is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among adolescents and young adults in the United States. Prior research has identified numerous predictors of non-fatal firearm injury; however, there is limited evidence on the longitudinal impacts of violence exposure during adolescence specifically on firearm violence victimization later in life. Using data from the first three waves (1994–2002) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we conducted a path analysis using survey-weighted generalized structural equation models to identify associations between exposures to violence and weapons during adolescence and firearm violence victimization during early adulthood. Analyses controlled for participant age, sex, race/ethnicity, and rurality of residence as reported in Wave 1. In fully adjusted and trimmed models, violence perpetration, violence exposure, and weapon carrying in adolescence were independently associated either directly or indirectly with participants’ self-reports of being shot and with having a gun pulled on them in early adulthood. Firearm violence victimization in Wave 1 was associated with being shot in Wave 3. A notable path between violence exposure in Wave 1 and being shot in Wave 3 was via weapon carrying in Wave 2. Interventions aimed at reducing weapon carrying among adolescents who have been exposed to violence may represent a modifiable way in which firearm violence victimization in early adulthood can be reduced.