USE OF GUNS BY TEENS FOR THREATS MORE LIKELY THAN FOR SELF-DEFENSE

CHICAGO—California adolescents are much more likely to be threatened with a gun than to use a gun in self-defense, according to an article in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

According to information in the article, the United States has more guns, particularly handguns, per capita than any other high-income country, and has higher rates of homicide for adults and children. However, shootings that result in death represent only a small percentage of incidents related to gun violence, the article states.

David Hemenway, Ph.D., and Matthew Miller, M.D., M.P.H., Sc.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, surveyed 5,800 California adolescents aged 12 through 17 between November 1, 2000 and October 31, 2001 regarding their relationship with guns. The researchers also collected demographic data.

Of the adolescents surveyed, 43 percent were non-Hispanic whites, 39 percent were Hispanics, 8 percent were non-Hispanic Asians, 5 percent were non-Hispanic blacks, and 4 percent identified themselves as belonging to another race/ethnicity. Ninety-eight percent of the adolescents were in school, and 20 percent reported living in a home with a gun.

"Approximately 4 percent of the adolescent reported ever having been threatened with a gun; only 0.3 percent reported using a gun in self-defense," write the researchers. "Boys, smokers, adolescents who threatened others, and adolescents whose parents knew little about their whereabouts in the afternoon after school were more likely to report being threatened with a gun. Most episodes of self-defense gun use seem to be hostile interactions between adolescents with weapons," the authors write.

They also found that threats against adolescents with guns took place mostly within the contexts of arguments, robberies or threats by strangers for no apparent reason.

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3 P.M. (CT), MONDAY, April 5, 2004
To contact corresponding author Monique M. B. Breteler, M.D., Ph.D., e-mail m.breteler{at}erasmusmc.nl.

ATHEROSCLEROSIS LINKED TO DEPRESSION IN OLDER PERSONS

CHICAGO—Older patients with atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), are more likely to have symptoms of depression, according to an article in the April issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

According to the article, studies suggest a relationship between vascular factors (like hardening of the arteries or calcium deposits in the blood vessels) and late-life depression. A theory has been put forward that atherosclerosis may have an effect on the brain leading to depression later in life.

Henning Tiemeier, M.D., Ph.D., of Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues investigated the relationship between atherosclerosis at different locations in the body and depression in 4,019 men and women 60 years or older.

The researchers found that severe atherosclerosis was associated with a higher prevalence of depressive disorders. They also found that patients with severe coronary calcifications (calcium deposits in the heart) were almost four times as likely to have depressive symptoms, and patients with calcifications in the aorta (the main artery bringing blood into the heart) were twice as likely to have depressive symptoms.

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3 P.M. (CT), MONDAY, April 5, 2004
To contact Bridget F. Grant, Ph.D., call Ann Bradley at 301/443-3860.

PATIENTS WITH ALCOHOL AND DRUG USE DISORDERS MORE LIKELY TO HAVE PERSONALITY DISORDERS

CHICAGO—The prevalence of personality disorders among patients with alcohol and drug use disorders is significant in the United States population, according to an article in the April issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Very little information is available on the co-occurrence of different personality disorders (PDs) and alcohol and drug use disorders in the U.S. population, according to background information in the article. Therefore, Bridget F. Grant, Ph.D., of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, Md., and colleagues investigated this issue. The researchers used data collected during interviews conducted as part of the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (n=43,093). Respondents to the survey were 18 years and older, and lived in the United States.

The prevalence rates of any alcohol or drug use disorder for the previous year were 8.5 percent, and 2.0 percent, respectively. The researchers found that among individuals with a current alcohol use disorder, 28.6 percent had at least 1 PD, and 47.7 percent of those with a current drug use disorder had at least 1 PD. PDs and alcohol and drug use disorders were significantly associated, the researchers write. Individuals with alcohol use disorders were almost five times as likely to have antisocial PD or histrionic PD, and were three times as likely to have a dependent PD. Individuals with drug use disorders were 11 times more likely to have antisocial PD and dependent PD, and eight times as likely to have histrionic PD.

The researchers also found that associations between obsessive-compulsive, histrionic, schizoid, and antisocial PDs and specific alcohol and drug use disorders were significantly stronger among women than men, whereas the association between dependent PD and drug dependence were significantly greater among men than women.

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3 P.M. (CT), MONDAY, April 5, 2004
To contact corresponding author Linda A. Teplin, Ph.D., call Elizabeth Crown at 312/503-8928.

RATES OF TRAUMA AND OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER HIGHER AMONG INCARCERATED YOUTH

CHICAGO—Most young persons incarcerated in the juvenile justice system have experienced at least one traumatic event and have higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than young persons living in the community, according to an article in the April issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

According to information in the article, each year approximately 2.4 million juveniles are arrested, accounting for 17 percent of all arrests. The number of detained juveniles with psychiatric disorders is high: two-thirds of boys and three-quarters of girls have one or more psychiatric disorders. Lifetime diagnoses of PTSD in community samples of youth range from 6.3 percent to 7.8 percent.

Karen M. Abram, Ph.D., of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, and colleagues investigated the prevalence of exposure to traumatic events and the yearly rates of PTSD among 898 African American, non-Hispanic white, and Hispanic detained juveniles (532 boys, 366 girls, aged 10-18 years) in Cook County, Illinois (including Chicago and surrounding suburbs).

The researchers found that most of the juveniles (92.5 percent) had experienced one or more traumatic events (average, 14.6 incidents). Significantly more boys (93.2 percent) than girls (84.0 percent) reported at least one traumatic experience. Among both boys and girls, the three most frequently reported traumas were having "seen or heard someone get hurt very badly or be killed" (reported by 74.9 percent of boys and 63.5 percent of girls), having been "threatened with a weapon" (reported by 59.3 percent of boys and 47.3 percent of girls) and being in a situation where "you thought you or someone close to you was going to be hurt very badly or die" (reported by 53.5 percent of boys and 49.1 percent of girls).

The researchers also found that 11.2 percent of the participants met criteria for PTSD in the past year, and more than half of the juveniles with PTSD reported witnessing violence as the trauma responsible for causing their PTSD.