Primary Submission Category: Chronic disease
Adolescent Exposure to Deadly Gun Violence Predicts Asthma Burden in Early Adulthood
Authors: Connor Martz, Lauren Gaydosh,
Presenting Author: Connor Martz*
Background: Gun violence is a pervasive neighborhood stressor that may influence asthma morbidity. Using a large population-based birth cohort of US youth, we examined whether adolescent exposure to deadly gun violence predicts new asthma diagnoses and other asthma-related outcomes in early adulthood.
Methods: Data were drawn from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, restricted to participants without asthma at age 15 (n=1,936). Adolescent exposure to deadly gun violence was measured as the count of incidents within 1600 meters of their homes in the year before age 15 assessments. Logistic and linear regression models tested associations between adolescent exposure and self-reported asthma outcomes at age 22, including diagnoses, hospitalizations, and functional limitations. Models adjusted for time-varying socioeconomic factors, area-level violent crime, and asthma-related risk factors. We also examined sex differences and whether accelerated epigenetic aging mediated these associations.
Results: Adolescents exposed to higher levels of deadly gun violence had increased odds of being diagnosed with asthma by age 22 (OR=1.22; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.45). This association was stronger for males (OR=1.50; 95% CI: 1.21 to 1.85) but was not significant for females (OR=1.03; 95% CI: 0.63 to 1.67). Closer residential proximately to deadly gun violence further elevated asthma risk. Among those diagnosed after age 15, higher exposure was also linked to greater asthma severity (B=0.23; 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.38) and higher likelihood of asthma-related hospitalization (OR=3.94; 95% CI: 1.53 to 10.20). These associations were not mediated by accelerated epigenetic aging, measured at age 15.
Conclusion: Adolescent exposure to deadly gun violence predicts new asthma diagnoses, severity, and hospitalization in early adulthood, particularly among males. Findings advance our understanding of the long-term effects of exposure to gun violence during sensitive periods of development.