Ami Zala Long Island University Post The Mediational Effect of Gun Violence on Conduct Disorder Amongst Adolescents Ami Zala Long Island University Post

Gun violence According to the APA, gun violence is defined as ”an extreme form of aggression,” such as “murder” (American Psychological Association, 2018a) Of the 250,000 global gun related deaths, 37,200 occurred in the US in 2016 (Santhanam, 2018) 1 in 15 American children live in a home that contains at least 1 loaded firearm that is accessible to them (Azrael et al., 2018) 4.8% of adolescents carry guns (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017) The US has had 57 times as many school shootings as the other G7 nations, nations that have the most advanced economies in the world (Grabow & Rose, 2018) G7 nations: Canada, France, Italy, UK, Germany, Japan, US

Conduct disorder Conduct disorder characterized by “a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate societal norms or rules are violated” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 469) Diagnosis is made based on the presence of at least 3 out of 15 criteria that fall into the following categories: aggression to people and animals, destruction of property, deceitfulness or theft, serious violation of rules Aggression to people and animals Using a “weapon that can cause serious physical harm to others” (p. 469) Stealing “while confronting a victim” (p. 470) Destruction of property “Deliberately engaged in fire setting” (p. 470) “Deliberately” destroying the property of others (p. 470). Deceitfulness or theft Breaking “into someone else’s house, building, or car” (p. 470) Often lying “to obtain goods or favors or to avoid obligations.” (p. 470) Serious violations of rules Often staying “out at night despite parental prohibitions, beginning before age 13 years” (p. 470) “Often truant from school, beginning before age 13 years” (p. 470)

Socioeconomic status (SES) SES is the ”social standing or class of an individual or group,” measured as a ”combination of education, income, and occupation” (American Psychological Association, 2018b)

Hypotheses SES significantly correlates with gun violence SES significantly correlates with conduct disorder Gun violence significantly correlates with conduct disorder Gun violence will mediate the relationship between SES and conduct disorder in such a way that there will be a significant correlation between gun violence and conduct disorder and an insignificant correlation between SES and conduct disorder

Participants Adolescents in the New York Metropolitan area (N = 160) ages 13 to 17 (M = 15.5, SD = 2.7) 65% were male (n = 104) and 35% were female (n = 56) 75% (n = 120) identified as Caucasian, 15% (n = 24) as Hispanic/Latino, 5% (n = 8) as Black/African American, 2.5% (n = 4) as Asian, and 2.5% (n = 4) as Other 45% (n = 72) of the participants were at the time of the study 10th graders in high school, 25% (n = 40) were 8th graders, 10% (n = 16) were 9th graders, 10% (n = 16) were 11th graders, and 10% (n = 16) were 12th graders SES ranged 20 to 62 (M = 44, SD = 1.6)

Measures Demographic questionnaire Hollingshead Four-Factor Index of Socioeconomic Status Conduct Disorder Scale Gun violence questionnaire

Procedure Approved by the Long Island Post University’s Institutional Review Board Informed consent, assent, and permission of all participants and parents Testing materials were mailed to randomly selected houses in randomly selected neighborhoods 300 homes received surveys and 160 were used in the study

Data Analysis Hierarchical regression analysis was utilized at an alpha level of p < .05 Mediational model The IV must predict the MV, the MV must predict the DV, the IV must predict the DV, and the impact of the IV on the DV must become nonsignificant once the MV is introduced so that the impact of the MV on the DV is very significant (Baron & Kenny 1986).

Significant SES significantly correlated with gun violence (r = .72) SES significantly correlated with conduct disorder (r = .70) Gun violence significantly correlated with conduct disorder (r = .84) When controlling for gun violence, the effect of SES on conduct disorder became nonsignificant thus, gun violence mediates the route between SES and conduct disorder

Nonsignificant There was a significant correlation between SES and gun violence (r = .72) There was a significant correlation between SES and conduct disorder (r = .70) There was no significant correlation between gun violence and conduct disorder, therefore gun violence does not mediate the relationship between SES and conduct disorder

Discussion Significant Nonsignificant Limitations and future directions

References American Psychological Association. (2018a). Violence. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/topics/violence/index.aspx. American Psychological Association. (2018b). Socioeconomic status. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/topics/socioeconomic-status/. Azrael, D., Cohen, J., Salhi, C., & Miller, M. (2018). Firearm storage in gun- owning households with children: Results of a 2015 national survey. Journal of Urban Health, 95(3), 295-304. Grabow, C., & Rose, L. (2018, May 21). The US has had 57 times as many school shootings as the other major industrialized nations. Cable News Network. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/21/us/school-shooting-us- versus-world-trnd/index.html. Santhanam, L. (2018, August 28). There’s a new global ranking of gun deaths: Here’s where the US stands. PBS News Hour. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/theres-a-new-global-ranking-of-gun- deaths-heres-where-the-u-s-stands.