Covariates
Individual-level covariates at baseline measured via self-report by youths included age, binary indicators for sex (female vs male), race (White vs minoritized racial and ethnic group [American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander]), ethnicity (Hispanic vs non-Hispanic), maximum parental education (at least college completion vs less than college completion for either parent), attendance at religious services (almost weekly vs never/rarely), and a continuous scale measuring rebelliousness (mean of the following 3 items with a Cronbach α = 0.69: “I like to see how much I can get away with;” “I ignore rules that get in my way;” and “I do the opposite of what people tell me, just to get them mad” with responses as very false = 1 to very true = 4). Information on race was collected to examine the balance between the two groups with regard to its distribution. Examining race could inform equity-centered approaches to reduce the risk of firearm-related harm. Community-level covariates at baseline included the total population of students in the community and the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch.