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Sexual Attraction and Trajectories of Mental Health and Substance Use During the Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood

  • Empirical Research
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Abstract

Previous research suggests that sexual minority youth have poorer health-related outcomes than their heterosexual peers. The purpose of this study is to determine whether sexual orientation disparities in mental health and substance use increase, decrease, or remain the same during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Data are from Waves 1–4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 8,322; 55% female). Respondents were in grades 7–12 at Wave 1 and aged 24–32 at Wave 4. Latent growth curve modeling is used to compare the mental health and substance use trajectories of youth who consistently report heterosexual attraction versus those who consistently report lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) attraction, those who report a transition to LGB attraction, and those who report a transition to heterosexual attraction. Among women and men, sexual orientation disparities in depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts persist, but do not increase, during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. The same pattern is observed for disparities in smoking, heavy drinking, and marijuana use among women. Among men, disparities in substance use are only observed between those who report consistent heterosexual attraction and those who transition to heterosexual attraction. Disparities between these groups persist over time for heavy drinking and marijuana use but decrease over time for smoking. While this study finds evidence of numerous disparities in mental health and substance use outcomes during adolescence and young adulthood, particularly among young women, there is no indication that these disparities get larger over time.

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Acknowledgement

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.

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The author received no funding for this study and reports no conflicts of interest.

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  1. Department of Sociology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, HHB 460C, 1530 3rd Ave. S., Birmingham, AL, 35294-1152, USA

    Belinda L. Needham

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  1. Belinda L. Needham
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Correspondence to Belinda L. Needham.

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Needham, B.L. Sexual Attraction and Trajectories of Mental Health and Substance Use During the Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood. J Youth Adolescence 41, 179–190 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9729-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9729-4

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