Enhancing an Existing Prevention Strategy to Reduce Intentional Firearm Injuries Among High-risk Youth (Phase 1)

Summary

Over the past three decades, substantial resources have been devoted to developing youth violence prevention (YVP) programs. These programs have demonstrated positive effects on reducing aggression and related behaviors, firearm-specific risk factors were largely overlooked due to historical barriers to firearm research. This omission is concerning, as firearms are now the leading cause of injury and death among U.S. youth. Existing YVP strategies such as Emerging Leaders address general violence risk but do not directly target firearm-related risks or suicide prevention. There remains a critical gap in prevention strategies that integrate firearm-specific content while leveraging established program infrastructure.

Conditions

• Prevention

Interventions

OTHER

Establish an advisory board of high-risk youth

Fifteen high-risk youth will be recruited to establish an advisory board

OTHER

Feedback and advice sessions

The youth advisory board will provide feedback and advice on the research questions, methodology, and interpretation of data through approximately fifteen, 60-minute meetings

OTHER

Youth advisory board training

Youth will be trained in the social-ecological model and health behavior change theories, to better conceptualize the link between theory and intervention content, and to participate in the research process more actively.

OTHER

Semi-structured focus groups

Will participate in a semi-structured focus group protocol developed in collaboration with the youth advisory board while incorporating knowledge from the empirical literature and health behavior change theories.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  collaborator FED

• Virginia Commonwealth University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Kelly O'Connor · Virginia Commonwealth University

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

13 Years

Max Age

17 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-04-30

Primary Completion

2027-01-31

Completion

2027-01-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations