Ziming Xuan, Gun Violence Research.
Ziming Xuan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. He is also a faculty member of the Injury Prevention Center at Boston Medical Center. He is a social epidemiologist who is interested in understanding the influence of social-contextual determinants, especially policy determinants on health, especially among youth. He has been the Principal Investigator of an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study alcohol policies and leading causes of alcohol-related mortality in the United States. He has been involved in studies of firearm-related injuries in the US and the role of firearm laws in preventing gun violence.
Restrictive Gun Control Policies Lower Youth Gun Carrying
A more restrictive gun law environment was associated with a reduced likelihood of youths carrying guns, according to a new study led by a School of Public Health researcher.
In a study published online by JAMA Pediatrics, Ziming Xuan, first author and assistant professor of community health sciences at SPH, and co-author David Hemenway of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health used gun law scores from the Brady Center for each state, with greater values representing a more restrictive gun control environment. They report that a 10-point increase in a gun law score was associated with 9 percent lower odds of youth gun carrying.
Higher adult gun ownership levels also were associated with a higher prevalence of youth carrying guns.
“Gun violence poses a substantial public health threat to adolescents in the United States. Existing evidence points to the need for policies to reduce gun carrying among youth,” they wrote. “We find that the strength of gun policies, including both adult-focused and youth-focused policies, is inversely associated with youth gun carrying.”
Additional research:
Collins T, Greenberg R, Siegel M, Xuan Z, Rothman EF, Cronin SW, Hemenway D. State Firearm Laws and Interstate Transfer of Guns in the USA, 2006-2016. J Urban Health. 2018 Apr 18. PMID: 29671188. READ AT: PubMed
Kalesan B, Zuo Y, Xuan Z, Siegel MB, Fagan J, Branas C, Galea S. A multi-decade joinpoint analysis of firearm injury severity. Trauma Surg Acute Care Open. 2018; 3(1):e000139. PMID: 29766128. READ AT: PubMed
Siegel M, Xuan Z, Ross CS, Galea S, Kalesan B, Fleegler E, Goss KA. Easiness of Legal Access to Concealed Firearm Permits and Homicide Rates in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2017 Dec; 107(12):1923-1929. PMID: 29048964. READ AT: PubMed
Liebschutz JM, Xuan Z, Shanahan CW, LaRochelle M, Keosaian J, Beers D, Guara G, O’Connor K, Alford DP, Parker V, Weiss RD, Samet JH, Crosson J, Cushman PA, Lasser KE. Improving Adherence to Long-term Opioid Therapy Guidelines to Reduce Opioid Misuse in Primary Care: A Cluster-Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2017 Jul 17. PMID: 28715535. READ AT: PubMed
Gupta J, Falb KL, Ponta O, Xuan Z, Campos PA, Gomez AA, Valades J, Cariño G, Olavarrieta CD. A nurse-delivered, clinic-based intervention to address intimate partner violence among low-income women in Mexico City: findings from a cluster randomized controlled trial. BMC Med. 2017 Jul 12; 15(1):128. PMID: 28697769. READ AT: PubMed
Smith VM, Siegel M, Xuan Z, Ross CS, Galea S, Kalesan B, Fleegler E, Goss KA. Broadening the Perspective on Gun Violence: An Examination of the Firearms Industry, 1990-2015. Am J Prev Med. 2017 Jun 17. PMID: 28648260. READ AT: PubMed
Siegel M, Pahn M, Xuan Z, Ross CS, Galea S, Kalesan B, Fleegler E, Goss KA. Firearm-Related Laws in All 50 US States, 1991-2016. Am J Public Health. 2017 Jul; 107(7):1122-1129. PMID: 28520491. READ AT: PubMed
Kalesan B, Adhikarla C, Pressley JC, Fagan JA, Xuan Z, Siegel MB, Galea S. The Hidden Epidemic of Firearm Injury: Increasing Firearm Injury Rates During 2001-2013. Am J Epidemiol. 2017 Apr 01; 185(7):546-553. PMID: 28338922. READ AT: PubMed
Noel JK, Xuan Z, Babor TF. Associations Between Thematic Content and Industry Self-Regulation Code Violations in Beer Advertising Broadcast During the U.S. NCAA Basketball Tournament. Subst Use Misuse. 2017 Jul 03; 52(8):1076-1084. PMID: 28323494. READ AT: PubMed
Hadland SE, Xuan Z, Sarda V, Blanchette J, Swahn MH, Heeren TC, Voas RB, Naimi TS. Alcohol Policies and Alcohol-Related Motor Vehicle Crash Fatalities Among Young People in the US. Pediatrics. 2017 Mar; 139(3). PMID: 28193794. READ AT: PubMed
Casas RS, Xuan Z, Jackson AH, Stanfield LE, Harvey NC, Chen DC. Associations of medical student empathy with clinical competence. Patient Educ Couns. 2017 Apr; 100(4):742-747. PMID: 27856065. READ AT: PubMed
Naimi TS, Xuan Z, Cooper SE, Coleman SM, Hadland SE, Swahn MH, Heeren TC. Alcohol Involvement in Homicide Victimization in the United States. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2016 Dec; 40(12):2614-2621. PMID: 27676334. READ AT: PubMed
Xuan Z, Naimi TS, Kaplan MS, Bagge CL, Few LR, Maisto S, Saitz R, Freeman R. Alcohol Policies and Suicide: A Review of the Literature. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2016 Oct; 40(10):2043-2055. PMID: 27618526. READ AT: PubMed