A new study suggests young people treated in emergency rooms (ERs) for an assault are more apt to be involved in subsequent firearm violence.

Compared with their peers without a history of assault, those young people with assault-related injury are nearly 60 percent more likely to be involved in severe forms of violence over the next two years, the study found.

Like Us on Facebook

These adolescents are also 40 percent more apt to be the victim or perpetrator of a second round of violence, which will likely occur within six months of their first ER visit.

The study published April 6 in the journal, Pediatrics, was conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Michigan Injury Center and the University of Michigan Medical School.

The researchers followed nearly 600 young men and women living in Flint, Michigan from 2009 to 2013. The control group had participants ranging in age between 14 and 24.

Led by Patrick M. Carter, MD, an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at U-M Injury Center, the team connected with the participants on their first visit to the ER and every six months over the next two years.

Researchers observed that although all the participants in the study had used drugs, those that had a substance abuse disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder were at greater risk for firearm violence. The participants that said retaliation was the best way to respond to an assault were also at higher risk of this type of violence.

In addition, the findings revealed young black men and women were more likely to take part in violence in the two years after their initial ER visit.

Researchers said the results should encourage doctors and social service agencies to focus their prevention strategies on the "teachable moment" subsequent to a first assault or fight.

"The data provides information on associated factors that increase this risk," Carter said. "It also provides a roadmap for constructing evidence-based interventions to reduce the risk for severe firearm-related injury or death among high-risk youth populations," he added.