Notice the "Health" byline (guns are a disease), the "gun free zone" and the plug for safe storage. While it is common sense to safely store firearms around kids, suicidal or otherwise, it sets another stage to mandate 'sensible safe storage' laws with attendant follow-up inspections aka the UK and Oz.
Guns Remain in Homes of Depressed Teens
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even after being told by a health professional that keeping a gun at home may increase the likelihood that a depressed child will attempt suicide, most parents of depressed teens do not remove firearms from their homes, according to a new study.
``The high proportion of families who, after receiving information, continued to keep a gun in the house is concerning, given the apparent risk for suicide conveyed by a gun in the home and the 30-fold increased risk for suicide conveyed by adolescent depression,'' Dr. David A. Brent and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania write in the October issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Based on research indicating that depressed teens who live in homes where a gun is present are more likely to attempt suicide than those living in firearm-free homes, Brent and his colleagues began asking parents of teens treated for depression in an outpatient clinic whether they had a gun at home. If the family did have a gun at home, parents were counseled on the suicide risks of keeping a gun at home and advised to remove the gun from the house. If there was not a gun in the home, however, the parents and patients were not counseled on the dangers of keeping a gun at home.
Most parents did not heed the advice about making their homes gun-free zones, the researchers report. During a child's treatment and up to 2 years later, guns were removed from only one fourth to one third of the houses that had firearms.
And some homes that were previously gun-free had firearms present at the end of the study. In fact, about one out of every six such households obtained a gun by the end of the 2-year follow-up period.
There are several potential reasons that families did not follow the advice on removing guns from the home, according to Brent's team. Since some research has suggested that the suicide risk is still high even if a gun is stored under lock and key or kept unloaded, families in the study were counseled to remove guns. Based on later evidence that proper storage of guns can reduce the suicide risk somewhat, ``presenting a range of options that includes both removal and locked storage separate from ammunition may improve compliance,'' the authors conclude.
In addition, many families may not have perceived that their child was at high risk of attempting suicide, according to the report. In fact, when a child had made a recent suicide attempt, parents were three times more likely to remove a gun from the house.
Brent's team also notes that researchers did not take into account each family's motivation for keeping a gun, such as for safety. And the recommendations were usually made to mothers, who may not always have been the parent who owned a gun, they note.
The results of the study show that doctors and other health professionals need to do more to make parents of depressed teens aware of the risks of having a gun at home, including discussing the issue with families who do not have firearms to ensure that their homes remain gun-free, according to the researchers.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2000;39:1220-1226.
-- 30 --
There is a related link:
Children at High Risk of Accidental Gun Death, Suicide (October 13)
Guns Remain in Homes of Depressed Teens
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even after being told by a health professional that keeping a gun at home may increase the likelihood that a depressed child will attempt suicide, most parents of depressed teens do not remove firearms from their homes, according to a new study.
``The high proportion of families who, after receiving information, continued to keep a gun in the house is concerning, given the apparent risk for suicide conveyed by a gun in the home and the 30-fold increased risk for suicide conveyed by adolescent depression,'' Dr. David A. Brent and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania write in the October issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Based on research indicating that depressed teens who live in homes where a gun is present are more likely to attempt suicide than those living in firearm-free homes, Brent and his colleagues began asking parents of teens treated for depression in an outpatient clinic whether they had a gun at home. If the family did have a gun at home, parents were counseled on the suicide risks of keeping a gun at home and advised to remove the gun from the house. If there was not a gun in the home, however, the parents and patients were not counseled on the dangers of keeping a gun at home.
Most parents did not heed the advice about making their homes gun-free zones, the researchers report. During a child's treatment and up to 2 years later, guns were removed from only one fourth to one third of the houses that had firearms.
And some homes that were previously gun-free had firearms present at the end of the study. In fact, about one out of every six such households obtained a gun by the end of the 2-year follow-up period.
There are several potential reasons that families did not follow the advice on removing guns from the home, according to Brent's team. Since some research has suggested that the suicide risk is still high even if a gun is stored under lock and key or kept unloaded, families in the study were counseled to remove guns. Based on later evidence that proper storage of guns can reduce the suicide risk somewhat, ``presenting a range of options that includes both removal and locked storage separate from ammunition may improve compliance,'' the authors conclude.
In addition, many families may not have perceived that their child was at high risk of attempting suicide, according to the report. In fact, when a child had made a recent suicide attempt, parents were three times more likely to remove a gun from the house.
Brent's team also notes that researchers did not take into account each family's motivation for keeping a gun, such as for safety. And the recommendations were usually made to mothers, who may not always have been the parent who owned a gun, they note.
The results of the study show that doctors and other health professionals need to do more to make parents of depressed teens aware of the risks of having a gun at home, including discussing the issue with families who do not have firearms to ensure that their homes remain gun-free, according to the researchers.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2000;39:1220-1226.
-- 30 --
There is a related link:
Children at High Risk of Accidental Gun Death, Suicide (October 13)
