Articlehybrid2022

Prevalence and Correlates of Firearm Access Among Post-9/11 US Women Veterans Using Reproductive Healthcare: a Cross-Sectional Survey

Lindsey L. Monteith · Ryan P. Holliday · Christin N. Miller · Alexandra L. Schneider · Lisa A. Brenner · Claire A. Hoffmire

18 citations0/0 files storedJournal of General Internal Medicine

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Gun Ownership and Violence Research Suicide and Self-Harm Studies Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Suicide rates have increased among women Veterans, with increased use of firearms as the method. Addressing suicide risk in this population requires understanding the prevalence and correlates of firearm access in healthcare settings frequented by women Veterans. OBJECTIVES: Characterize the prevalence and correlates of firearm ownership and storage practices among women Veterans using Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reproductive healthcare (RHC) services. DESIGN: Cross-sectional national survey conducted in 2018-2019 (17.9% response rate). PARTICIPANTS: Post-9/11 women Veterans using RHC (n=350). MAIN MEASURES: VA Military Sexual Trauma Screen, PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, Hurt/Insult/Threaten/Scream, Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale screener, self-reported firearm access. KEY RESULTS: 38.0% (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 32.9, 43.3) of participants reported personally owning firearms, and 38.9% (95% CI: 33.7, 44.2) reported other household members owned firearms. Among those with firearms in or around their homes, 17.8% (95% CI: 12.3, 24.4) and 21.9% (95% CI: 15.9, 28.9) reported all were unsafely stored (loaded or unlocked, respectively). Women who experienced recent intimate partner violence were less likely to report personally owning firearms (adjusted prevalence ratio [APR]=0.75; 95% CI: 0.57, 0.996). Those who experienced military sexual harassment (APR=1.46; 95% CI=1.09, 1.96), were married (APR=1.74; 95% CI: 1.33, 2.27), or lived with other adult(s) (APR=6.26; 95% CI: 2.87, 13.63) were more likely to report having household firearms owned by someone else. Storing firearms loaded was more prevalent among women with lifetime (APR=1.47; 95% CI=1.03, 2.08) or past-month (APR=1.69; 95% CI=1.15, 2.48) suicidal ideation and less likely among those with other adult(s) in the home (unadjusted PR=0.62; 95% CI=0.43, 0.91). Those with parenting responsibilities (APR=0.61; 95% CI=0.38, 0.97) were less likely to store firearms unlocked. CONCLUSIONS: Firearm access is prevalent among post-9/11 women Veterans using VA RHC. Interpersonal factors may be important determinants of firearm access in this population. Safe firearm storage initiatives are needed among women Veterans using RHC, particularly for those with suicidal ideation.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 18 citations exist upstream.

References

2011The Columbia–Suicide Severity Rating Scale: Initial Validity and Internal Consistency Findings From Three Multisite Studies With Adolescents and Adults 2015Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fifth Edition (PCL-5) in veterans.2005Gun Storage Practices and Risk of Youth Suicide and Unintentional Firearm Injuries 1998HITS: a short domestic violence screening tool for use in a family practice setting.2018Firearm Storage in Gun-Owning Households with Children: Results of a 2015 National Survey 2019Association between suicidal ideation and suicide: meta-analyses of odds ratios, sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value 2007The US gun stock: results from the 2004 national firearms survey 2006The association between changes in household firearm ownership and rates of suicide in the United States, 1981–2002

Cited by

2024Firearm storage practices among military veterans in the United States: Findings from a nationally representative survey 2022Firearm Lethal Means Counseling Among Women: Clinical and Research Considerations and a Call to Action 2023Women Veterans’ perspectives, experiences, and preferences for firearm lethal means counseling discussions

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.