Family Experiences, Attitudes, and Household Safety Practices Regarding Firearms

To assess families' experiences with shootings and firearm ownership and attitudes, 208 children aged 5 to 12 years were interviewed and 242 parents filled out a questionnaire, all at an urban hospital. Forty-three percent of the parents and 25% of the children had personal knowledge of shootin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical pediatrics 1993-02, Vol.32 (2), p.71-76
Main Authors: Wiley, Catherine C., Casey, Rosemary
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child, Preschool
Continental Population Groups
Educational Status
Employment
Environment. Living conditions
Family - psychology
Fear
Female
Firearms - standards
Firearms - statistics & numerical data
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Hospitals, Pediatric
Housing. Living conditions
Humans
Income
Interviews as Topic
Male
Marital Status
Maternal Age
Medical sciences
Mothers - education
Mothers - psychology
Ownership
Philadelphia
Play and Playthings
Prospective Studies
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Safety
Sex Factors
Socioeconomic Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
Television
Urban Population
Violence
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Summary:To assess families' experiences with shootings and firearm ownership and attitudes, 208 children aged 5 to 12 years were interviewed and 242 parents filled out a questionnaire, all at an urban hospital. Forty-three percent of the parents and 25% of the children had personal knowledge of shootings. Of the parents, 10% owned guns, of which only 21 % were stored safely. Gun ownership was more common in homes with resident adult males (14%) than in those with no adult males (3%). Most children (81%) played with guns, and 20% to 25% preferred violent TV shows, games, and toys. Parents' and children's attitudes toward firearms and children's gun play did not differ by level of mother's education; method of payment for, or site of, health care; income; or exposure to shootings. Children with personal knowledge of shootings more often expressed fears of being shot than did other children (52% vs 31%). The children in our study population were similar in their gun play and attitudes about gun use despite disparate socioeconomic backgrounds and exposure to shootings.
ISSN:0009-9228
1938-2707
DOI:10.1177/000992289303200202