Advisory Committee Chair
Susan Davies
Advisory Committee Members
Olivio Clay
Crayton T Fargason
Connie Kohler
Ann Elizabeth Montgomery
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2019
Degree Name by School
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) School of Public Health
Abstract
IDENTIFYING ASSOCIATED RISK WITH EXPOSURE TO WEAPON CARRYING AMONG EMERGING ADULTS LIVING IN DISADVANTAGED URBAN AREAS IN BIRMINGHAM TOLULOPE ADUROJA HEALTH EDUCATION/HEALTH PROMOTION ABSTRACT Weapon carrying is a public health concern due to its association with a serious injury, disability or death, and adverse health-related outcomes. Weapon carrying among youth is associated with both intrinsic or internalizing and extrinsic or externalizing factors (Stayton, 2011). Violence in youth and young adults is the 2nd leading cause of death (homicide) in Alabama. Health behavior theories posit that health-relevant attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral skills drive subsequent actions people take to protect themselves from health threats. It is important to identify and understand the unique individual modifiable risks for youth violence. The study was a cross-sectional study to understand socio-demographic risk factors associated with weapon carrying among emerging adult men and women and guide the development of a peer-driven intervention aimed at promoting healthy behavior patterns in individuals and their social network The study sought to test the hypothesis to investigate the predictors and risk factors associated with Weapon Carrying among Emerging Adults Living in Disadvantaged Urban Areas in Birmingham. Males were found to be more likely to carry weapons than females. Analyses further showed that substance use, having children; age and absence of education were all predicting factors to weapon carrying. Study further assessed the predictive factors that weapon carrying would be associated with Zimbardo Time Perspective. This time perspective according to Zimbardo is defined as the subconscious way in which an individual’s personal and social experiences are assigned to time frames that give meanings to our life experiences. Time perspective tends to play a significant role in our decision-making, especially when it comes to the avoidance of risk-taking behaviors or engagement in prosocial behaviors. Weapon carrying did not show significance with any of the primary time perspectives measured in this study except for the Transcendental-Future Time Perspective. This time perspective was found to be more significant when the outcome is further limited to gun carrying. These emerging adults that grew up in this disadvantaged urban neighborhood will be expected to face significant challenges that can impact their mode of thinking and psychological mindedness. The study utilized secondary data analysis of data collected from a larger cross-sectional survey to examine the relative association of weapon carrying and social network among emerging adults in disadvantaged communities. After adjusting for the socio-demographic characteristics, we found few socio-demographic parameters to be predictive of weapon carrying in the study sample; participants whose family encouraged use of violence to solve problems had greater odds of weapon carrying. Above family encouragement and
Recommended Citation
Aduroja, Tolulope, "Identifying Associated Risk with Exposure ti Weapon Carrying Among Emerging Adults Living in Disadvantaged Urban Areas in Birmingham" (2019). All ETDs from UAB. 964.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/964