{"id":209803,"date":"2022-04-01T18:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T22:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=209803"},"modified":"2023-04-03T20:19:54","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T00:19:54","slug":"racial-disparities-in-child-exposure-to-gun-violence-worsened-during-covid","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2022\/racial-disparities-in-child-exposure-to-gun-violence-worsened-during-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Racial Disparities in Child Exposure to Gun Violence Worsened during COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin is-style-default-alt has-media has-media-focus-center-middle\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1251\" height=\"755\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2023\/04\/child-exposure-to-gv-2.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Chart showing average annual gun deaths in home neighborhoods of 5-17 year olds in the US by race\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/04\/child-exposure-to-gv-2.jpg 1251w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/04\/child-exposure-to-gv-2-636x384.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/04\/child-exposure-to-gv-2-1024x618.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/04\/child-exposure-to-gv-2-768x464.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/04\/child-exposure-to-gv-2-755x456.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/04\/child-exposure-to-gv-2-900x543.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/04\/child-exposure-to-gv-2-1200x724.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1251px) 100vw, 1251px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">gun violence<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRacial Disparities in Child Exposure to Gun Violence Worsened during COVID\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Childhood firearm violence exposure increased for almost all non-White racial groups during the pandemic. The highest rates of gun violence exposure occurred among children in the South, but racial disparities in gun violence exposure were greatest in the Northeast and Midwest. <\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">April 1, 2022<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/jillian-mckoy\/\">Jillian McKoy<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>More than 17,000 children are shot in the United States each year, making gun violence the leading cause of death among children and teens. Recent research shows that firearm violence <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2022\/firearm-injuries-increased-during-first-year-of-covid-in-massachusetts\/\">rose sharply<\/a> during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but data is limited on how this spike affected childhood exposure to, and racial disparities in, firearm violence across the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A new study led by School of Public Health researchers has found that non-White children in the US experienced greater exposure to neighborhood firearm violence than White children before the pandemic, and that these racial disparities in gun violence exposure increased for every non-White racial group except Native Americans during COVID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0749379722001295#!\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Published in the <em>American Journal of Preventive Medicine<\/em><\/a>, the study found that Black children bore the brunt of pre-pandemic gun violence exposure, at 4.44 times the rate of White children. The findings revealed that Black children also experienced the highest increase in firearm violence exposure during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study is the first to quantify racial disparities in childhood exposure to gun violence with data from every US neighborhood, and one of few studies to report the rise in gun violence during COVID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;These findings are striking, as they display not only that large-scale racial disparities are present, but also that these disparities grew during the pandemic,&#8221; says study lead author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rachelcmartin-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rachel Martin<\/a>, an MPH student in SPH&#8217;s BS\/MPH dual-degree program and project manager for the RISE Lab. &#8220;This is particularly important as firearm violence exposure contributes to a plethora of adverse physical and mental health outcomes among youth.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the study, researchers from SPH\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/riselab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Research on Innovations for Safety and Equity<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/riselab\/\">(RISE) Lab<\/a> at SPH, Teachers College at Columbia University, and the University of Michigan School of Public Health, utilized US census data and firearm violence data from the Gun Violence Archive to examine childhood exposure to violence for children ages 5 to 17, from March 2015 through March 2021. They obtained data for children in eight racial categories: Black, American Indian and Alaska Native (Native American), Asian, Native Hawaiian\/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, White, \u22652 races, and \u201cSome Other Race,\u201d which represented other race categories that respondents manually entered into census surveys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The findings showed that, after Black children, children who identified as \u201cSome Other Race\u201d carried the next highest burden of gun violence exposure prior to the pandemic, followed by Hispanic children. Asian\/Pacific Islander children experienced the lowest levels of disparities. All of these groups also experienced a higher proportional increase during the first year of COVID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers also observed substantial regional variation in US childhood exposure to gun violence, where children in the South experienced the highest rates of exposure overall, but children in the Northeast and Midwest experienced the starkest racial disparities in gun violence exposure, both pre-pandemic and during COVID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;These differences in exposure throughout various parts of the country really point to the impact of regional differences in residential segregation,&#8221; Martin says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s telling that the regions with the highest racial segregation show the biggest disparities in child exposure to gun violence, even when overall gun violence rates are lower,&#8221; says study senior author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/jonathan-jay\/\">Jonathan Jay<\/a>, assistant professor of community health sciences and principal investigator of the RISE Lab. &#8220;Boston is emblematic of this pattern. Gun violence per capita is relatively low compared to other US cities, but it\u2019s highly concentrated in the neighborhoods where children of color live. We\u2019ve got to tackle not only segregation itself, but reverse the disinvestment and unequal distribution of resources that come along with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers say the findings underscore the need to monitor racial inequities in child gun violence exposure, as well as invest in policies and programs that promote gun violence prevention and reduce structural inequities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur response must combine upstream prevention with trauma response that helps mitigate long-term impact at the individual and community levels, while also addressing the role of structural racism\u2014including segregation and disinvestment\u2014in shaping these disparities from early life,\u201d says Jay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study was co-authored by Faizah Shareef, Kristal Xie, and Kalice Allen of the RISE Lab at SPH; Sonali Rajan, associate professor of health education at Teachers College; and Marc Zimmerman, Marshall H. Becker Collegiate Professor of Public Health and director of the Prevention Research Collaborative at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories is-style-card has-two sphnews-block-editorial-relatedstories\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-title\">Related<\/h3>\n\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"600\" height=\"362\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2022\/02\/boston-gun-violence-600.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>gun violence<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2022\/firearm-injuries-increased-during-first-year-of-covid-in-massachusetts\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">Firearm Injuries Increased during First Year of COVID in Massachusetts<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">February 8, 2022<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1986\" height=\"1206\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2021\/04\/bu-today-gun-violence.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/04\/bu-today-gun-violence.jpeg 1986w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/04\/bu-today-gun-violence-636x386.jpeg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/04\/bu-today-gun-violence-1024x622.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/04\/bu-today-gun-violence-768x466.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/04\/bu-today-gun-violence-1536x933.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/04\/bu-today-gun-violence-755x458.jpeg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/04\/bu-today-gun-violence-1628x989.jpeg 1628w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/04\/bu-today-gun-violence-900x547.jpeg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/04\/bu-today-gun-violence-1920x1166.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2021\/04\/bu-today-gun-violence-1200x729.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1986px) 100vw, 1986px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>Community Health Sciences<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2021\/why-has-gun-violence-increased-in-the-united-states\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">Why Has Gun Violence Increased in the United States?<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">April 2, 2021<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 17,000 children are shot in the United States each year, making gun violence the leading cause of death among children and teens. Recent research shows that firearm violence rose sharply during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but data is limited on how this spike affected childhood exposure to, and racial disparities [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15205,"featured_media":209856,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"gun violence","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[2488,1981,3888,3485,3243,2070,2178,3380,3887],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3525,3526,3531,3540],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[3308],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/209803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209803"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/209803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224157,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/209803\/revisions\/224157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209803"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=209803"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=209803"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=209803"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=209803"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=209803"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=209803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}