Research & Resources

Sexual minority youth and substance use

Sexual minority youth are at increased risk for substance use disorders; however, little is known about differences within that group. Researchers used large national datasets to stratify participants into subgroups and compare their substance use behavior. They found that within this group, lesbians and bisexual youth were more likely to use tobacco and marijuana earlier and for a longer time compared to female heterosexual youth. Male bisexual youth were at the greatest risk for using marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco. The paper also contains intervention and prevention programming for this population. The paper, “Sexual minority youth at risk of early and persistent alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use,” was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and published in Archives of Sexual Behavior.
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