Disparities in substance use behaviors and disorders among adult sexual minorities by age, gender, and sexual identity

Individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual experience significantly elevated rates of substance use and substance use disorders (SUD) relative to heterosexuals. Disparities are present at initiation, as sexual minority (SM) youth report younger ages of first use than heterosexual youth (Institute of Medicine, 2011). A meta-analysis of 18 school-based surveys reported that US SM youth had nearly three times the odds of any substance use relative to heterosexual youth, smoking rates 2-3 times higher those of heterosexuals and approximately 1.5 times the odds of marijuana use (Marshall et al., 2008).

Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence - June 19, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Megan S. Schuler, Cara E. Rice, Rebecca J. Evans-Polce, Rebecca L. Collins Source Type: research