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Matthew Miller

Publications and source records attributed to Matthew Miller.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

State-level homicide victimization rates in the US in relation to survey measures of household firearm ownership, 2001-2003.

Two of every three American homicide victims are killed with firearms, yet little is known about the role played by household firearms in homicide victimization. The present study is the first to examine the cross sectional association between household firearm ownership and homicide victimization across the 50 US states, by age and gender, using nationally representative state-level survey-based estimates of household firearm ownership. Household firearm prevalence for each of the 50 states was obtained from the 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Homicide mortality data for each state were aggregated over the three-year study period, 2001-2003. Analyses controlled for state-level rates of aggravated assault, robbery, unemployment, urbanization, per capita alcohol consumption, and a resource deprivation index (a construct that includes median family income, the percentage of families living beneath the poverty line, the Gini index of family income inequality, the percentage of the population that is black and the percentage of families headed by a single female parent). Multivariate analyses found that states with higher rates of household firearm ownership had significantly higher homicide victimization rates of men, women and children. The association between firearm prevalence and homicide victimization in our study was driven by gun-related homicide victimization rates; non-gun-related victimization rates were not significantly associated with rates of firearm ownership. Although causal inference is not warranted on the basis of the present study alone, our findings suggest that the household may be an important source of firearms used to kill men, women and children in the United States.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Is an armed society a polite society? Guns and road rage.

BACKGROUND: While concerns about road rage have grown over the past decade, states have made it easier for motorists to carry firearms in their vehicles. Are motorists with guns in the car more or less likely to engage in hostile and aggressive behavior? METHODS: Data come from a 2004 national random digit dial survey of over 2,400 licensed drivers. Respondents were asked whether, in the past year, they (1) made obscene or rude gestures at another motorist, (2) aggressively followed another vehicle too closely, and (3) were victims of such hostile behaviors. RESULTS: Seventeen percent admitted making obscene or rude gestures, and 9% had aggressively followed too closely. Forty-six percent reported victimization by each of these behaviors in the past year. Males, young adults, binge drinkers, those who do not believe most people can be trusted, those ever arrested for a non-traffic violation, and motorists who had been in a vehicle in which there was a gun were more likely to engage in such forms of road rage. CONCLUSION: Similar to a survey of Arizona motorists, in our survey, riding with a firearm in the vehicle was a marker for aggressive and dangerous driver behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Parental misperceptions about children and firearms.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of parental predictions about their children's self-reported behavior around household guns. DESIGN: Survey. SETTING: Family practice clinic in rural Alabama. PARTICIPANTS: Convenience sample of parents and their children aged 5 to 14 years. INTERVENTION: Questionnaires about firearms administered separately to children and their parents. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Rates of concordance and discordance between parents and their children living in homes with guns about whether the children knew the storage location of household firearms and had ever handled firearms in the home. RESULTS: Of 420 parent-child dyads, 314 agreed to participate; 201 of the 314 homes contained guns. Children younger than 10 years were as likely as older children to report knowing the storage location (73% vs 79%, respectively) and to report having handled a household gun (36% vs 36%, respectively). Thirty-nine percent of parents who reported that their children did not know the storage location of household guns and 22% of parents who reported that their children had never handled a household gun were contradicted by their children's reports. Such discordance between parent and child reports was unrelated to whether parents stored their firearms locked away or had ever discussed firearm safety with their children. CONCLUSIONS: Many parents who were living in homes with firearms and who reported that their children had never handled firearms in their homes were contradicted by their children's self-reports. Parents who locked their guns away and discussed gun safety with their children were as likely to be contradicted as parents who did not take such safety measures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Are household firearms stored less safely in homes with adolescents?: Analysis of a national random sample of parents.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether firearms are more frequently stored loaded, unlocked, or both in households with adolescents only (aged 13-17 years) compared with households with younger children only (aged 0-12 years). DESIGN: Random-digit-dial survey on firearms (n = 2770). We computed bivariate associations between the presence of adolescents and firearm storage practices. Statistical significance was assessed using prevalence ratios with 95% confidence intervals. SETTING: United States. PARTICIPANTS: Survey respondents with children (aged <18 years) who reported the presence of a household firearm. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of firearms in the home stored loaded and/or unlocked. RESULTS: Of the 392 respondents, 22% had a loaded firearm, 32% had an unlocked firearm, and 8% had a firearm stored loaded and unlocked. Compared with households with younger children, households with adolescents only were somewhat more likely to store a firearm unlocked (42% vs 29%; prevalence ratio, 1.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-2.02), loaded (26% vs 20%; prevalence ratio, 1.25; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-1.91), or both (10% vs 8%; prevalence ratio, 1.43; 95% confidence interval, 0.64-3.19). CONCLUSIONS: Parents of adolescents appear to be more likely to keep household firearms stored unsafely, especially with regard to keeping firearms unlocked. This is of concern because most youth firearm injuries happen to adolescents. Firearm injury prevention programs should directly target parents of adolescents to promote safe firearm storage.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The effect of child access prevention laws on unintentional child firearm fatalities, 1979-2000.

OBJECTIVE: Unintentional firearm deaths among children have been declining steadily in the United States. This study investigates whether Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws are associated with this decline. METHODS: Pooled cross-sectional time- series data (1979-2000) for 50 states and negative binomial regression methods were used to estimate the effect of Child Access Prevention laws on unintentional firearm deaths among children. RESULTS: Most states that enacted CAP laws experienced greater subsequent declines in the rate of unintentional firearm deaths for children age 0 to 14 compared with states not enacting the laws; however when adjusted for firearm prevalence and state and national effects the laws were associated with statistically significant declines only in Florida and California. In a comparison group of adults age 55 to 74, a group less likely to have young children in the home and thus less likely to be influenced by CAP laws, there was no indication that CAP laws affected unintentional firearm death rates. CONCLUSIONS: Unintentional firearm deaths are declining in the United States, with the rate for children under age 15 declining faster than adults. States that allowed felony prosecution of offenders experienced a greater effect of CAP laws than states that did not. CAP laws may have had some influence on the continued reduction in national death rates.

Accident Prevention↗
PubMed2006

Belief in the inevitability of suicide: results from a national survey.

To examine public opinion regarding the effectiveness of means restriction as an approach to preventing suicide we asked a national sample of 2,770 respondents a hypothetical question about what effect a suicide barrier might have had on the ultimate fate of the more than 1,000 people who have jumped to their death from the Golden Gate Bridge. Thirty-four percent of respondents believed that every single jumper would have found another way to complete suicide and an additional 40% believed that "most" would have completed suicide using other means. The strongest predictors of belief in complete substitution were firearm ownership and cigarette smoking. Belief in the inevitability of suicide may be a political impediment to adopting potentially effective suicide prevention efforts.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Firearm storage practices and rates of unintentional firearm deaths in the United States.

BACKGROUND: The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association recommend storing firearms unloaded and locked up to minimize the chance of injury. Although these recommendations appeal to common sense, no study has yet addressed whether firearm storage practices influence the risk of unintentional firearm injury. METHODS: Negative binomial regression analyses were used to assess the cross sectional relation between firearm storage practices and rates of unintentional firearm death in the United States, controlling for rates of firearm prevalence, poverty and urbanization. Recently available state-level measures of household firearm prevalence and firearm storage practices were obtained from the 2002 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Unintentional firearm death counts and population data came from the National Center for Health Statistics. RESULTS: Independent of firearm prevalence, urbanization, and poverty, a disproportionately large share of unintentional firearm fatalities occurred in states where gun owners were more likely to store their firearms loaded, the greatest risk occurring in states where loaded firearms were more likely to be stored unlocked. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide empirical support for recommendations issued by the AMA and the AAP that firearms should be stored unloaded and locked, and suggest that promoting safer storage practices could save many lives.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed2005

Batterers' use of guns to threaten intimate partners.

OBJECTIVES: To present the prevalence of gun ownership among batterers and describe their self-reported use of guns to threaten intimate partners. METHODS: We used multivariate methods to analyze data from 8529 men enrolled in Massachusetts certified batterer intervention programs between 1999 and 2003. RESULTS: Seven percent of the sample reported owning guns during the past 3 years. Recent gun owners were 7.8 times more likely than non-gun-owners to have threatened their partners with guns. Gun owners and non-gun-owners were equally likely to have threatened their partners with knives. Batterers reported using guns to threaten their partners in 4 ways, including 1) threatening to shoot them; 2) cleaning, holding, or loading a gun during an argument; 3) threatening to shoot a pet or person the victim cared about; and 4) shooting a gun during an argument with a victim. Identified risk markers for threatening an intimate partner with a gun included substance abuse, homicidal behavior, making knife threats, and gun ownership in the 3 years preceding assessment. CONCLUSION: Among batterers, owning a gun is highly correlated with using a gun to threaten an intimate partner. Legal restrictions that prohibit batterers from owning and possessing firearms should be enforced consistently. Detailed contextual information about the circumstances in which batterers use guns to threaten intimate partners and potential protective and risk factors relevant to firearm use by batterers should be explored.

Coercion↗
PubMed2004

The Newt in winter.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed2004

Continuous association of cadherin with beta-catenin requires the non-receptor tyrosine-kinase Fer.

The function of Type 1, classic cadherins depends on their association with the actin cytoskeleton, a connection mediated by alpha- and beta-catenin. The phosphorylation state of beta-catenin is crucial for its association with cadherin and thus the association of cadherin with the cytoskeleton. We now show that the phosphorylation of beta-catenin is regulated by the combined activities of the tyrosine kinase Fer and the tyrosine phosphatase PTP1B. Fer phosphorylates PTP1B at tyrosine 152, regulating its binding to cadherin and the continuous dephosphorylation of beta-catenin at tyrosine 654. Fer interacts with cadherin indirectly, through p120ctn. We have mapped the interaction domains of Fer and p120ctn and peptides corresponding to these sequences release Fer from p120ctn in vitro and in live cells, resulting in loss of cadherin-associated PTP1B, an increase in the pool of tyrosine phosphorylated beta-catenin and loss of cadherin adhesion function. The effect of the peptides is lost when a beta-catenin mutant with a substitution at tyrosine 654 is introduced into cells. Thus, Fer phosphorylates PTP1B at tyrosine 152 enabling it to bind to the cytoplasmic domain of cadherin, where it maintains beta-catenin in a dephosphorylated state. Cultured fibroblasts from mouse embryos targeted with a kinase-inactivating ferD743R mutation have lost cadherin-associated PTP1B and beta-catenin, as well as localization of cadherin and beta-catenin in areas of cell-cell contacts. Expression of wild-type Fer or culture in epidermal growth factor restores the cadherin complex and localization at cell-cell contacts.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Gun threats against and self-defense gun use by California adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To assess hostile gun use against and self-defense gun use by adolescents. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We use random-digit-dial telephone survey data collected from approximately 5800 California adolescents, aged 12 through 17 years, between November 1, 2000, and October 31, 2001. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The prevalence and correlates of reported hostile gun use against and self-defense gun use by adolescents, as well as qualitative information about these 2 types of gun uses. Correlates include age, sex, ethnicity, smoking, alcoholic binge drinking, threatening others, parents knowing their adolescent's whereabouts in the afternoon after school, attending school, area urbanization and poverty level, and living in a household with a gun. RESULTS: Approximately 4% of the adolescents reported ever having been threatened with a gun; only 0.3% reported using a gun in self-defense. 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. CONCLUSIONS: Far more California adolescents are threatened with a gun than use a gun in self-defense. Self-defense gun use is rare; many of the reported self-defense gun uses seem to be armed confrontations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

The epidemiology of case fatality rates for suicide in the northeast.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: We examine how method-specific case fatality rates for suicide differ by age and sex. METHODS: Seven northeastern states provided mortality and hospital discharge data (1996 to 2000). Suicide acts were divided into 8 categories according to the method used. For each method, the fraction of acts resulting in death (the method-specific case fatality rate) was calculated. Only suicide acts that resulted in hospitalization or death were included. RESULTS: Overall, 13% of all suicide acts proved lethal (23% for males compared with 5% for females; 7% for people aged 15 to 24 years compared with 34% for individuals aged > or =65 years). Poisoning with drugs accounted for 74% of acts but only 14% of fatalities; firearms and hanging accounted for only 10% of acts but 67% of fatalities. Firearms were the most lethal means (91% resulted in death), followed by drowning (84%) and hanging (82%). For every means, method-specific case fatality rates were higher for male victims and older individuals. Age and sex were associated with overall case fatality rates primarily because of their association with the distribution of methods chosen. CONCLUSION: Our findings are based on suicide acts that result in hospitalization or death and therefore underestimate the actual incidence of suicide acts and overestimate case fatality rates. Nevertheless, we find that age and sex influence overall case fatality rates primarily through their association with methods used, rather than because of variation in method-specific case fatality rates.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

The effect of nondiscretionary concealed weapon carrying laws on homicide.

BACKGROUND: Historically, the carrying of concealed firearms has been either substantially restricted or prohibited outright. Over the past two decades, laws making it easier for civilians to obtain permits allowing them to carry concealed weapons legally have proliferated throughout the United States. This study investigates the effect of such changes in state laws on state homicide rates. METHODS: Pooled cross-sectional time-series data (1979-1998) for 50 states and Poisson regression methods were used to estimate the effect of changes in state laws on homicide rates. RESULTS: No statistically significant association exists between changes in concealed weapon laws and state homicide rates. This finding is consistent across all models. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings are consistent with those of other published studies indicating that nondiscretionary concealed weapon laws are not associated with significant increases or decreases in homicide.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Firearms and suicide in the northeast.

BACKGROUND: A central question in suicide research is whether firearm availability increases the overall number of suicides rather than the proportion of suicides from guns. METHODS: Seven state health departments supplied mortality and hospital discharge data for all suicides and nonfatal hospitalized suicide attempts between 1996 and 2000. Firearm prevalence measures came from the Behavioral Risk Factor Survey Surveillance. Pearson correlation coefficients and associated chi statistics were used to quantify the relation between firearm prevalence and rates of suicide; ordinary least squares regression was used to explore whether the relation could be explained by differences across states in attempt rates or method-specific case fatality rates. RESULTS: Firearm prevalence was positively related to the suicide rate, even after controlling for rates of attempted suicide, and could not be accounted for by differences in method-specific case fatality rates. CONCLUSION: When it comes to suicide, the availability of household firearms matters-a lot.

Adolescent↗