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Structural Stigma and Cigarette Smoking in a Prospective Cohort Study of Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Youth

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Sexual minority youth are more likely to smoke cigarettes than heterosexuals, but research into the determinants of these disparities is lacking.

Purpose

This study aimed to examine whether exposure to structural stigma predicts cigarette smoking in sexual minority youth.

Methods

Prospective data from adolescents participating in the Growing Up Today Study (2000–2005) were utilized.

Results

Among sexual minority youth, living in low structural stigma states (e.g., states with non-discrimination policies inclusive of sexual orientation) was associated with a lower risk of cigarette smoking after adjustment for individual-level risk factors (relative risk [RR] = 0.97; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 0.96, 0.99; p = 0.02). This association was marginally significant after additional controls for potential state-level confounders (RR = 0.97; 95 % CI, 0.93, 1.00; p = 0.06). In contrast, among heterosexual youth, structural stigma was not associated with past-year smoking rates, documenting specificity of these effects to sexual minority youth.

Conclusions

Structural stigma represents a potential risk factor for cigarette smoking among sexual minority adolescents.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by grant HD057368 from the National Institutes of Health. Drs. Austin and Corliss are supported by the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health project, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and HRSA grant 6T71-MC00009; Dr. Corliss is supported by NIDA Career Development Award K01 DA023610; and Dr. Hatzenbuehler is supported by NIDA Career Development Award K01 DA032558 and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars program.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to report.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168th St, Room 549.B, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Mark L. Hatzenbuehler Ph.D.

  2. Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Hee-Jin Jun Sc.D., Heather L. Corliss M.P.H., Ph.D. & S. Bryn Austin Sc.D.

  3. Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Heather L. Corliss M.P.H., Ph.D. & S. Bryn Austin Sc.D.

  4. Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Heather L. Corliss M.P.H., Ph.D. & S. Bryn Austin Sc.D.

  5. Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    S. Bryn Austin Sc.D.

Authors
  1. Mark L. Hatzenbuehler Ph.D.
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  2. Hee-Jin Jun Sc.D.
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  3. Heather L. Corliss M.P.H., Ph.D.
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  4. S. Bryn Austin Sc.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark L. Hatzenbuehler Ph.D..

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Hatzenbuehler, M.L., Jun, HJ., Corliss, H.L. et al. Structural Stigma and Cigarette Smoking in a Prospective Cohort Study of Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Youth. ann. behav. med. 47, 48–56 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-013-9548-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-013-9548-9

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