Community Gun Violence Linked to Poorer Child Health, ECHO Study Finds

Posted on December 18, 2025December 18, 2025 by Jodi Snare

Children living in neighborhoods with high levels of gun violence were 20% less likely to be reported in excellent or very good health compared with children in areas with lower levels of gun violence, according to a new study from the ECHO Cohort. The association was consistent across age groups and especially pronounced in high-poverty neighborhoods, where children exposed to gun violence were 23% less likely to be reported in excellent health.

The study included more than 13,450 children from birth to age 17 from 56 ECHO Cohort Study Sites across the United States. Researchers linked data on neighborhood gun violence, collected from the Gun Violence Archive, with parent-reported child health measures, while accounting for individual and neighborhood sociodemographic factors.

“This research highlights the profound impact of gun violence on the well-being of children, underscoring the critical importance of community-level violence prevention efforts and policies in fostering safer and healthier communities,” said study author Nandita Somayaji, MHS, MEd, of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

These findings point to the importance of gun violence prevention strategies that can create safer environments for children.

This collaborative research titled “Associations between neighborhood-level gun violence and child general health status: An ECHO Cohort analysis” was published in Injury.

Allan C. Just, PhD: Air pollution and temperature as spatial factors impacting child health

Air pollution and temperature as spatial factors impacting child health

Key Takeaways: For this talk, Dr. Just explores how air pollution and temperature act as spatial factors impacting child health, with a focus on advanced exposure modeling using satellite data and machine learning. It highlights unique opportunities within the ECHO program to build spatiotemporal exposure models, integrate diverse data sources, and improve the accuracy of environmental health studies. Dr. Just also discusses technical challenges, model comparisons, and the importance of analyzing short-term exposures and humidity’s role in heat-related health outcomes.

Allan C. Just, PhD

Nazareth-Ferguson Family University Associate Professor

of Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology and

Institute at Brown for Environment and Society

Speaker Biography: Allan C. Just, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology and the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society at Brown University. Dr. Just specializes in environmental exposure modeling and epidemiology, leveraging satellite data and earth observations to enhance exposure assessment for large health registries and cohort studies. Dr. Just is recognized for advancing methodologies in air pollution and temperature modeling to support child health research.

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Children in High Gun Violence Areas Less Likely to Report Excellent Health, ECHO Study Finds

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Children in High Gun Violence Areas Less Likely to Report Excellent Health, ECHO Study Finds

Authors: Aruna Chandran, Emily Knapp, Nandita Somayaji, et al.

Who sponsored this study?

The Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health supported this research.

Why was this study needed?

Gun violence has been the leading cause of death in children and teens in the United States since 2021. In addition to fatalities, exposure to gun violence in communities has been linked to adverse mental health outcomes in children. However, most prior studies have focused on mental health effects in older children and have not fully examined developmental or physical health impacts in younger children. This study aimed to explore the association between neighborhood-level gun violence and the general health status of children nationwide.

What were the study results?

The study found that parents of children living in areas with high levels of gun violence were 20% less likely to report their child’s health as excellent or very good compared with children who had experienced less gun violence, even after accounting for age and neighborhood economic disadvantage. This association was consistent across age groups, with both younger and older children in high gun violence areas less likely to report excellent or very good health. The effect was strongest in children that lived in neighborhoods with high poverty and high gun violence, where they were 23% less likely to be reported as having excellent or very good health.

What was the study's impact?

The findings underscore the importance of community violence prevention efforts and the need to strengthen our understanding of community risk factors such as gun violence that hinder optimal child growth and development.

Who was involved?

The study included 13,450 children from birth to 17 years old from 56 ECHO Cohort Study Sites.

What happened during the study?

Researchers used data from the Gun Violence Archive to identify how much gun violence occurred in different neighborhoods, categorized into low, medium, and high levels. Then they looked at how parents rated their children’s overall health and compared it across neighborhoods. A statistical model was used to measure the link between children’s health and the amount of gun violence in their neighborhood.

Footnote: Results reported here are for a single study. Other or future studies may provide new information or different results. You should not make changes to your health without first consulting your healthcare professional.

What happens next?

Future research following children over time could help researchers better understand how exposure to gun violence affects children's health as they grow. Additional studies could also help researchers separate the impacts of gun violence exposure from other factors and explore how and why this exposure influences children’s health.

Where can I learn more?

Access the full journal article, titled “Associations between neighborhood-level gun violence and child general health status An ECHO Cohort analysis,” in Injury.

The content is the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Published November 2025

Read the associated article.

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Children in High Gun Violence Areas Less Likely to Report Excellent Health, ECHO Study Finds

Leve/Neiderhiser: Early Growth and Development Study: How Different Family Constellations Can Inform Science

Early Growth and Development Study: How Different Family Constellations Can Inform Science

Speakers:

Leslie Leve, PhD

College of Education, University of Oregon

Janae Neiderhiser, PhD

Department of Psychology, Penn State University

Discussant: Jody Ganiban, PhD

George Washington University

Speaker Bios: Dr .Leve is best known for her research on child and adolescent development, gene-environment interplay, and interventions for children and families. This includes preventive intervention studies with youth in foster care and with adolescents in the juvenile justice system aimed at preventing risk behaviors and improving public health outcomes, and adoption studies that examine the interplay between biological (genetic, hormonal), psychological, and social influences on development. She co-directs a center on parenting in the context of opioid use, and her work also focuses on outcomes for girls and women.

Dr. Jenae Neiderhiser is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State University and Associate Head of Psychology. She directs the Gene-Environment Research Initiative, and is affiliated with the Consortium to Combat Substance Abuse, the Social Science Research Institute, the Child Study Center, and the Center for Human Evolution and Diversity at Penn State, has been an investigator on NIH grants for over 20 years, and was president of the Behavior Genetics Association from 2018-19. Her PhD is in Human Development and Family Studies, and she has focused on how genes and environments work together across the lifespan using family based designs. Her interests are especially how social relationships including parenting, marriage, and sibling, are related to child and adolescent mental health. Over the past decade she has also incorporated early life experiences, notably prenatal environments, into her research. On ECHO Dr Neiderhiser is MPI on the Early Growth and Development Study pediatric cohorts with Drs. Leve and Ganiban, co-chairs the Protocol Implementation and Evaluation Committee and co-leads the Fathers, Other Caregivers, and Siblings Task Force.

Date: Wednesday, November 11, 1 to 2pm

For a copy of the slides, contact the ECHO Coordination Center.

Better Sleep Quality Is Linked to Lower Levels of Stress and Better General Health in Children

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