Guns – especially those found in youths’ own homes – are a leading cause among adolescents of injury and death to themselves and others. (See Research of Note, page 29.) In this statewide, multi-language, community-based survey of 5,704 pairs of adolescents and parents living in the same household, researchers asked about guns in the home and compared the two groups’ responses.
They found substantial agreement between parents and youth about whether there was any gun in the home, but less agreement about whether there was a handgun in the home. The level of agreement was related to household composition and gender of the respondents. For example, in instances where boys residing in households containing a single mother and no other adults reported that there was a gun in the home, nearly 65 percent of their mothers said there was no gun in the home. Implications for research and intervention are discussed. Free. 34 pages. (215) 898-5512, http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1079&context=spp_papers.
