Youth attitudes toward guns and violence: Relations with sex, age, ethnic group, and firearm exposure

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Abstract
Investigated relations between young people's scores on the Attitudes Toward Guns and Violence Questionnaire (AGVQ; Shapiro, Dorman, Burkey, Welker, & Clough, 1997), demographic variables, and exposure to firearms and violence. 1,164 students, Grades 3 to 12, from an urban, suburban, parochial, and private school system completed anonymous self-report questionnaires in their classrooms. Boys produced higher AGVQ scores than did girls. Scores were similar in Grades 3 and 5, were much higher in Grade 6 than in Grade 5, and were similar in Grades 6 and above. This pattern was found across sex, race, and school system. African Americans obtained higher scores than Caucasians on the AGVQ and on 2 of its 4 factors. Students in the urban public schools produced higher scores than did youth in the other school systems. Both traumatic and nontraumatic exposure to firearms were associated with high AGVQ scores. Sex, grade, and firearm exposure were associated with relatively large differences, while ethnic group and school system were associated with relatively small differences.