Urgent Injury and Violence-Related Public Health Threats: The Role of Social Determinants in Cross-Cutting Injury and Violence across the Lifespan

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Background

Injury and violence, including gun violence, drug overdose, suicide, intimate partner violence, and sexual violence, are prevalent public health problems, with numerous health and social adverse consequences for individuals, families, communities, and society. Injury and violence cause significant morbidity and mortality across the lifespan. Children who experience violence, directly or indirectly, are more likely to experience abuse and poor health, developmental, and social outcomes, which can persist into adulthood and include further violence victimization and/or perpetration. Adults exposed to injury and violence are at risk for exacerbated or new physical and mental health problems that can be short-term or long-lasting. Moreover, society bears an enormous economic burden caused by medical and legal costs, low productivity, or absenteeism related to injury and violence.

While existing data have shown that injury and violence pose major public health problems, few data exist for specific sub-populations (i.e., im/migrants, LGBTQ+, BIPOC). Much of the injury and violence research has been siloed in specific subject matter areas (e.g., opioid use). Little research has focused on two or more forms of injury and violence that are interconnected and co-occur (e.g., illicit drug use and intimate partner violence), necessitating the examination of intersectional risk and protective factors for a range of interpersonal and community-based forms of violence; even fewer data exist on effective interventions to prevent and respond to violence.

Additionally, the roles of social determinants of health in alleviating or exacerbating injury and violence are not well-understood. In the context of such escalating threats to public health as mass shootings and opioid overuse, both frequently depicted as “epidemic” in the US, it is essential to fill the evidence gaps identified above and discuss strategies to prevent injury and violence, including public health practices, clinical practices, and law/policy changes.

Considering these points, this special issue will include papers that relate to the urgent threats of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), drug overdose, and suicide prevention identified by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Although not part of the CDC’s priority, we also include gun violence as an urgent threat. Additional topics that are within the scope of this special issue are child abuse and neglect, youth violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and cross-cutting violence, all of which are among the CDC’s research priorities for violence prevention efforts. We welcome evidence-based primary or secondary research papers, meta-analyses, robust policy briefs or white papers, and general commentaries that could include either a reflection on the topic or a narrative of a personal experience related to these topics that illuminate the personal, complex, and intersectional nature of these forms of injury and violence.

Keywords: gun violence, drug overdose, substance-related disorders, suicide, intimate partner violence, domestic violence, sexual violence, rape, ACEs, child abuse, child maltreatment, shared risk factors, shared protective factors, cross-cutting, cross-sectoral

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