Faculty Sponsor: Maryam Gooyabadi
Eli Cohen
Eli is a rising junior from Denver, Colorado, majoring in psychology with a potential minor in data analysis. He works with the Center for the Study of Guns and Society with Professor Gooyabadi and Professor Tucker, during research connected to firearms patents. He then did a project in Applied Data Analysis on perceived safety of adolescents based on the presence of firearms in the home, and he now works on child suicide research with Matthew Miller, Deb Azrael, and Carmel Sahli from Northeastern University. Outside of work, Eli enjoys spending time outdoors, as well as spending time with friends and listening to audiobooks.
Abstract: Firearms are the leading cause of death for adolescents in the US. This is in large part due to firearm suicides, where attempts with firearms have almost a 90% fatality rate. Lack of access or slower speed of access to household firearms is a major and important measure in preventing suicide, and the literature on adolescents’ speed of access to a loaded weapon is sparse. This study used the nationally representative 2019 National Firearms Survey to see if adolescents who are at risk for suicide have a different speed of access to household firearms than those who are not. The data showed no significance in the difference between the groups’ speed of access to firearms, with even a slight nonsignificant trend toward those at risk having faster access. This research and other literature show that more resources are needed to help talk to parents about the risks of unsafe storage of firearms for adolescents who may be at risk, and how their storage can affect their children’s well-being.
eli_cohen_poster-1