Community LGBTQ supportiveness may reduce substance use among sexual minority adolescents

New Rochelle, NY, February 18, 2020–A new research study provides novel insights into community-level predictors of lifetime substance use among a sample of 2678 sexual minority adolescents. Community LGBTQ supportiveness was found to be associated with lower odds of lifetime illegal drug use for sexual minority boys and girls and lower odds of lifetime marijuana use and smoking for girls. Living in a large population center was related to lower odds of lifetime alcohol use for boys. However, a progressive political climate was related to higher odds of lifetime marijuana use for girls. The importance of community contexts for substance use among sexual minority adolescents is investigated in an article published in LGBT Health, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the LGBT Health website through March 18, 2020.

The article, “Associations Between Community-Level LGBTQ-Supportive Factors and Substance Use Among Sexual Minority Adolescents,” was authored by Ryan J. Watson, PhD, University of Connecticut (Storrs) and colleagues from The University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada), the University of Maryland (College Park), San Diego State University (CA), and the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis). British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey data and primary community-level data were used to examine associations between community and school LGBTQ supportiveness, as well as population size and political climate of the communities surrounding the schools, and lifetime substance use (alcohol, illegal drugs, marijuana, non-medical use of prescription drugs, and smoking).

“The study suggests that the availability of a variety of LGBTQ community resources lowers the odds of substance use for sexual minority adolescents by creating a climate of greater acceptance. It adds to accumulating evidence linking community openness and inclusiveness to LGBTQ health,” states LGBT Health Editor-in-Chief William Byne, MD, PhD, Columbia University, New York, NY.

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Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01HD078470 (principal investigator: Marla E. Eisenberg). These analyses were also supported, in part, by Grants CPP-86374 and MOP119472 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Population and Public Health, and Institute of Gender and Health (principal investigator: Elizabeth M. Saewyc). Dr. Watson acknowledges support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse grant K01DA047918. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

LGBT Health published 8 times a year online with open access options and in print, facilitates and supports the work of researchers, clinicians, academics, and policymakers to address barriers to care and advance efforts to improve the health, well-being, and clinical outcomes of all LGBT and other sexual and gender minority persons. Led by Editor-in-Chief William Byne, MD, PhD, Columbia University, New York, NY, the Journal spans a broad array of disciplines and publishes original research, review articles, clinical reports, case studies, and legal and policy perspectives. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the LGBT Health website.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Transgender Health, AIDS Patient Care and STDs, AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, Journal of Women’s Health, and Population Health Management. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s more than 90 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.