Simply living near gun violence – even without direct contact or injuries – significantly impacts quality of life, according to a study published in the Journal of Urban Health.

This finding from the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers University shows that shootings affect millions of Americans who do not appear on traditional victim lists.

Using survey data from 7,785 adults in nine U.S. states, including New Jersey, the study examined the impact of four types of experiences of gun violence: being threatened with a gun, being shot, witnessing a friend or family member being shot, and witnessing or hearing about a shooting in the neighborhood.

“We found that witnessing or hearing about a shooting in one’s neighborhood is the most common way to experience gun violence and is associated with a decline in quality of life in all five areas we studied,” said lead author Jennifer Paruk, a research associate at the research center.

The study found that 37 percent of participants reported being exposed to at least one form of gun violence. The population studied was representative of the total population of these nine states. This means that more than a third of all people in these states – Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington – are exposed to gun violence.

At 22 percent, contact in the neighborhood was the most common, followed by acquaintance with a shooting victim (19 percent), being threatened with a weapon (13 percent) and being shot (2 percent).

Indirect exposure had almost as large an impact as direct victimization. Those who witnessed or heard about shootings in their neighborhood could expect a deterioration in their overall quality of life and physical, psychological, social, and environmental well-being.

The researchers also examined cumulative exposure across all four types of gun violence experiences. They found that higher cumulative exposure led to lower quality of life scores across all areas examined.

“Those who are most exposed to gun violence and are affected by it in many different ways have the lowest quality of life in all of those different areas,” Paruk said.

Individuals who were exposed to all four types of gun violence had an adjusted mean physical quality of life score that was 11.14 points lower on a scale of 0 to 100 than individuals without violence. Their environmental quality of life score was on average 7.18 points lower.

The study used the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life – Brief Scale, which measures quality of life across physical, psychological, social and environmental domains. The researchers controlled for factors such as income, education, previous experiences of abuse, perceptions of safety in the neighborhood and other demographic characteristics to isolate the relationship between experience of gun violence and quality of life.

Being threatened with a weapon was associated with a 2.59-point decrease in physical quality of life, while being shot at was associated with a 6.98-point decrease.

Paruk stressed that the findings underscore the far-reaching effects of gun violence that go beyond those directly injured.

“We really recognize the impact that indirect gun use can have on many types of quality of life,” she said. “People who are being treated for gun violence could use a lot of support if their family members are with them in the hospital or caring for them at home.”

The study suggests that reducing gun violence in the neighborhood could have far-reaching benefits for community well-being.

“Reducing gun violence in certain neighborhoods would improve the lives of everyone in those neighborhoods,” Paruk said.

While the study did not test effectiveness or specific interventions, researchers said their findings underscore the need for expanded support services for people indirectly affected by gun violence, but such support is hard to find.

“We may not even have support for indirect victims,” ​​Paruk said. “And as a society, we may not recognize the damage that gun violence can cause indirectly. We need to make sure that support is available when people need it.”

The researchers plan to conduct further analyses using the survey data, including examining how the frequency and recency of experiences with gun violence affect health. They said the findings underscore the importance of considering gun violence as a broad public health problem that affects entire communities.