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Longitudinal Disparities of Hazardous Drinking Between Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Individuals from Adolescence to Young Adulthood

  • Empirical Research
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Abstract

Sexual minority (lesbian and gay, bisexual, mostly heterosexual) individuals are at an increased risk for hazardous drinking than heterosexual individuals, but little is known about the nature of the disparities as adolescents reach adulthood. We used four waves of a nationally representative data set, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), to examine disparities of hazardous drinking outcomes between sexual minority and heterosexual men and women from adolescence to young adulthood. Participants were 14–18 years old at the first assessment (N = 12,379; 53 % female) and 27–31 years old at the fourth assessment. At the fourth assessment, 13 % self-identified as sexual minority individuals, 16 % were Hispanic, and 36 % were of minority race, including primarily African Americans (60 %) and Asian Americans (18 %). There were clear hazardous drinking disparities between sexual minority individuals and heterosexual individuals over time. During adolescence, sexual minority individuals, particularly females, reported higher levels of hazardous drinking. As study participants reached adulthood, the magnitude of the hazardous drinking disparities increased among sexual minorities, sexual minority men in particular. Additional research is needed to better understand the developmental mechanisms that underlie the emerging sexual orientation related disparities of hazardous drinking in young adulthood.

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Notes

  1. For the binge drinking outcome (Table 2), the initial level of binge drinking among gay/mostly gay youth was significantly lower than the other groups. Mostly heterosexual individuals did not demonstrated significantly greater initial binge drinking levels than the bisexual or heterosexual youth. All other findings were replicated between the drunkenness and binge drinking outcomes.

  2. For the binge drinking outcome (Table 2), heterosexual males exhibited a similar growth rate to sexual minority males. Furthermore, binge drinking among heterosexual females increased significantly, but modestly, over time. All other findings were replicated between the drunkenness and binge drinking outcomes.

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Acknowledgments

The production of the manuscript was supported by grants awarded to Dr. Michael Marshal from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (DA030385 & DA026312).

Author Contributions

SD and MP developed the initial study idea. SD conducted the analyses, interpreted the results and drafted the manuscript. MP participated in the implementation of the project and helped interpret the results and draft the manuscript. JC was involved in the data analyses, interpreting the results, and drafting the manuscript. CB, MF, FA, and TH helped interpret the results, develop the implications of the study findings as well as revise the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 4118 Sennott Square, 210 South Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Sarah S. Dermody

  2. Center for Research on Health and Sexual Orientation, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Michael P. Marshal & Mark S. Friedman

  3. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Michael P. Marshal & Chad Burton

  4. Department of Health Behavior, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, UK

    JeeWon Cheong

  5. College of Nursing (MC 802), University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Tonda Hughes & Frances Aranda

  6. Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Mark S. Friedman

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  1. Sarah S. Dermody
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  3. JeeWon Cheong
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  4. Chad Burton
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  6. Frances Aranda
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  7. Mark S. Friedman
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Correspondence to Sarah S. Dermody.

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Dermody, S.S., Marshal, M.P., Cheong, J. et al. Longitudinal Disparities of Hazardous Drinking Between Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Individuals from Adolescence to Young Adulthood. J Youth Adolescence 43, 30–39 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9905-9

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