TY - JOUR
T1 - Sexual Minority Youth at Risk of Early and Persistent Alcohol, Tobacco, and Marijuana Use
AU - Talley, Amelia E.
AU - Turner, Blair
AU - Foster, Anthony M.
AU - Phillips, Gregory
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01 AA024409).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2019/5/1
Y1 - 2019/5/1
N2 - The current study sought to examine substance use disparities among sexual minority youth. The current subsample of 348,175 students participated in the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) study from years 2005 to 2015 (biennially) in jurisdictions that asked at least one question about sexual minority status. Latent class analysis was used to identify implicit classes of sexual minority youth, based on respondents’ sexual identity and sexual behavior. Sex-stratified regression models were run to determine the association between class membership and age of onset and persistent use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Findings showed that sexual minority female subgroups were primarily distinguished by sexual identity (e.g., “lesbian,” “bisexual”), whereas sexual minority male subgroups were primarily distinguished by sexual behavior. Female lesbian and bisexual youth were at risk of initiating substance use at younger ages and, among lifetime users, were more likely to persist in their tobacco and marijuana use over time, relative to sexually active female heterosexual youth. Among lifetime users, male youth with partners of both sexes were at greater risk of persistent use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana over time and earlier ages of first use. Recommendations for intervention and prevention programs geared toward reducing sexual minority youth substance use are provided.
AB - The current study sought to examine substance use disparities among sexual minority youth. The current subsample of 348,175 students participated in the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) study from years 2005 to 2015 (biennially) in jurisdictions that asked at least one question about sexual minority status. Latent class analysis was used to identify implicit classes of sexual minority youth, based on respondents’ sexual identity and sexual behavior. Sex-stratified regression models were run to determine the association between class membership and age of onset and persistent use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Findings showed that sexual minority female subgroups were primarily distinguished by sexual identity (e.g., “lesbian,” “bisexual”), whereas sexual minority male subgroups were primarily distinguished by sexual behavior. Female lesbian and bisexual youth were at risk of initiating substance use at younger ages and, among lifetime users, were more likely to persist in their tobacco and marijuana use over time, relative to sexually active female heterosexual youth. Among lifetime users, male youth with partners of both sexes were at greater risk of persistent use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana over time and earlier ages of first use. Recommendations for intervention and prevention programs geared toward reducing sexual minority youth substance use are provided.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Sexual behavior
KW - Sexual orientation
KW - Substance use
KW - Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059703105&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10508-018-1275-7
DO - 10.1007/s10508-018-1275-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 30604172
AN - SCOPUS:85059703105
VL - 48
SP - 1073
EP - 1086
JO - Archives of Sexual Behavior
JF - Archives of Sexual Behavior
SN - 0004-0002
IS - 4
ER -