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. 2023 Apr 28;72(1):22–28. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.su7201a3

TABLE 2. Witnessing community violence and gun carrying, by student characteristics — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2021*.

Characteristic Witnessing community violence
 Gun carrying
Yes
 No
 Chi-square test
p value† 		Yes
 No
 Chi-square test
p value†
% (95%CI) % (95%CI) % (95% CI) % (95% CI)
Overall
19.9 (17.3–22.7)
 80.1 (77.3–82.7)
 NA
 3.5 (2.8–4.4)
 96.5 (95.6–97.2)
 NA
Sex
NA
 NA
 0.024
 NA
 NA
 0.000
  Female
 19.2 (16.6–22.1)
 80.8 (77.9–83.4)
 NA
 1.8 (1.5–2.3)
 98.2 (97.7–98.5)
 NA
  Male
 20.4 (17.8–23.2)
 79.6 (76.8–82.2)
 NA
 5.0 (3.9–6.3)
 95.0 (93.7–96.1)
 NA
Race and ethnicity§
NA
 NA
 0.000
 NA
 NA
 0.000
  American Indian or Alaska Native
 26.0 (18.6–35.1)¶,**
 74.0 (64.9–81.4)
 NA
 5.3 (2.5–11.1)**
 94.7 (88.9–97.5)
 NA
  Asian
 9.3 (6.7–12.8)¶,††,§§,¶¶,***
 90.7 (87.2–93.3)
 NA
 1.0 (0.5–1.8)¶,††,§§,¶¶,***
 99.0 (98.2–99.5)
 NA
  Black or African American
 29.3 (25.8–33.2)
 70.7 (66.8–74.2)
 NA
 5.1 (4.2–6.3),¶¶,***
 94.9 (93.7–95.8)
 NA
  Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
 26.2 (22.0–30.9)
 73.8 (69.1–78.0)
 NA
 3.9 (2.9–5.3)
 96.1 (94.7–97.1)
 NA
  White
 24.5 (19.1–30.8)¶¶,***
 75.5 (69.2–80.9)
 NA
 3.0 (1.6–5.5)
 97.0 (94.5–98.4)
 NA
  Hispanic or Latino
 21.3 (11.8–35.4)
 78.7 (64.6–88.2)
 NA
 5.1 (0.7–29.6)
 94.9 (70.4–99.3)
 NA
  Multiracial
 14.8 (12.9–17.0)
 85.2 (83.0–87.1)
 NA
 3.0 (2.4–3.8)
 97.0 (96.2–97.6)
 NA
Age group, yrs
NA
 NA
 0.281
 NA
 NA
 0.046
  ≤15
 18.8 (16.8–21.0)
 81.2 (79.0–83.2)
 NA
 3.2 (2.5–4.1)
 96.8 (95.9–97.5)
 NA
  16–17
 20.5 (17.0–24.5)
 79.5 (75.6–83.0)
 NA
 3.5 (2.6–4.6)
 96.5 (95.4–97.4)
 NA
  ≥18
 22.5 (17.4–28.6)
 77.5 (71.4–82.6)
 NA
 6.5 (4.2–9.9)†††
 93.5 (90.1–95.8)
 NA
Sexual identity
  Lesbian, gay, or bisexual
 27.0 (23.9–30.3)§§§,¶¶¶
 73.0 (69.7–76.1)
 0.000
 2.9 (1.9–4.3)
 97.1 (95.7–98.1)
 0.287
  Heterosexual
 18.2 (15.7–20.9)
 81.8 (79.1–84.3)
 NA
 3.3 (2.7–4.1)
 96.7 (95.9–97.3)
 NA
  Questioning or other 20.4 (17.7–23.4) 79.6 (76.6–82.3) NA 4.6 (2.9–7.2) 95.4 (92.8–97.1) NA

Abbreviation: NA = not applicable.

* N = 17,232 respondents. Because the state and local questionnaires differ by jurisdiction, students in these schools were not asked all national YRBS questions. Therefore, the total number (N) of students answering each question varied. Percentages in each category are calculated on the known data.

† Chi-square tests were applied to examine the bivariate relationships between demographic characteristics and witnessing community violence or gun carrying. Statistical significance is defined as p<0.05 for the chi-square test.

§ Persons of Hispanic or Latino (Hispanic) origin might be of any race but are categorized as Hispanic; all racial groups are non-Hispanic.

Significantly different from White students, on the basis of t-test analysis with Taylor series linearization (p<0.05).

** Significantly different from Asian students, on the basis of t-test analysis with Taylor series linearization (p<0.05).

†† Significant difference from Black or African American students, on the basis of t-test analysis with Taylor series linearization (p<0.05).

§§ Significantly different from American Indian or Alaska Native students, on the basis of t-test analysis with Taylor series linearization (p<0.05).

¶¶ Significantly different from multiracial students, on the basis of t-test analysis with Taylor series linearization (p<0.05).

*** Significantly different from Hispanic students, on the basis of t-test analysis with Taylor series linearization (p<0.05).

††† Significantly different from students aged ≤15 years, on the basis of t-test analysis with Taylor series linearization (p<0.05).

§§§ Significantly different from heterosexual students, on the basis of t-test analysis with Taylor series linearization (p<0.05).

¶¶¶ Significantly different from questioning or other students, on the basis of t-test analysis with Taylor series linearization (p<0.05).