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Original research
Military spouse and key stakeholder perspectives of effective messaging for US service members on secure storage of personal firearms: a qualitative study
  1. Justin C Baker1,
  2. Michael D Anestis2,
  3. Kayla A Meza3,4,
  4. Jayna Moceri-Brooks5,
  5. Alex Bletz3,4,
  6. Kaitlyn Friedman3,4,
  7. Rodney A Ho6,
  8. AnnaBelle O Bryan1,
  9. Craig J Bryan1,
  10. Marian E Betz3,4
  1. 1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA
  2. 2School of Public Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
  3. 3Injury and Violence Prevention Center, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, Colorado, USA
  4. 4Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA
  5. 5Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, New York, New York, USA
  6. 6Office of the Chief Scientist, 59MDW, USAF
  1. Correspondence to Dr Justin C Baker; Justin.Baker{at}osumc.edu

Abstract

Background Secure firearm storage is a proposed method for reducing intentional and unintentional firearm injury and death among US military service members. However, little is known about suggested key messengers and optimal message content to promote secure firearm storage practices among at-risk US service members. This qualitative study focused on military spouse and stakeholder perspectives concerning key messengers and message content for the delivery of effective messaging around promoting secure firearm storage practices among US service members.

Methods Military spouses and stakeholders of military support organisations were recruited at various military installations in the USA and completed either individual or group qualitative interviews via Zoom consisting of open-ended questions on perspectives of effective messaging for secure firearm storage for at-risk service members. Qualitative analysis included comprehensive memoing, regularly scheduled team meetings and triangulation of data with established literature.

Results 56 participants were interviewed between August 2022 and March 2023. Participants identified key messengers for promoting secure firearm storage as peers, chaplains, clinicians or a combination. Perspectives on preferred message content for the promotion of secure firearm storage consisted of focusing on lived experience, personal anecdotes and relatable stories.

Discussion and conclusions Extant research has focused exclusively on firearm owners’ perspectives of effective messaging for the promotion of secure firearm storage practices. This study highlights the important contributions of military spouses and stakeholder perspectives on who are credible messengers and what is the most effective message content to promote a perspective shift on how firearms are stored among military firearm owners.

  • Military
  • Firearm
  • Suicide/Self?Harm
  • Public Health

Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request. Deidentified data underlying this article will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

https://doi.org/10.1136/ip-2024-045351

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    Data availability statement

    Data are available upon reasonable request. Deidentified data underlying this article will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

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    Footnotes

    • X @PsychBrownBag

    • Contributors MDA, CJB and MEB designed the study and obtained funding. KM, DR, JMB and JS collected the data. KM, AB and KF analyzed the data. JCB drafted the original manuscript. All authors provided input into data interpretation and manuscript editing. All authors approved the final manuscript. JCB is the guarantor of the contributorship statement.

    • Funding This work was supported by the DoD Defense Health Agency, grant number ID07200010-301.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, conduct, reporting or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.