Sexual orientation and adolescent substance use: a meta-analysis and methodological review

• Published in: Addiction (Abingdon, England) Vol. 103; no. 4; pp. 546 - 556
• Main Authors: Marshal, Michael P., Friedman, Mark S., Stall, Ron, King, Kevin M., Miles, Jonathan, Gold, Melanie A., Bukstein, Oscar G., Morse, Jennifer Q.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2008; Blackwell
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Age Factors; Alcohol; Biological and medical sciences; bisexual; Bisexuality; Bisexuals; Drug abuse; Drug addiction; drugs; Female; gay; Gays & lesbians; Gender; Health; Heterosexuals; Homosexuality; Humans; lesbian; Lesbianism; Male; Medical sciences; Meta-analysis; Miscellaneous; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Review; Sex Factors; sexual minority; Sexual orientation; Sexuality - psychology; Social problems; Substance abuse; Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; Systematic review; Teenagers; Toxicology; Youth; Adolescence; Homosexuality; Methodology; Male; Review; sexual minority; Evidence-based medicine; youth; Metaanalysis; Alcoholic beverage; Female; gay; Human; Drug; alcohol; Drug addiction; Ethanol; drugs; Evidence-based practice; bisexual; meta-analysis; Substance abuse; Bisexuality; lesbian; Addiction; Adolescent; Sexuality; Sexual orientation; Psychiatry; Bibliographic review
• ISSN: 0965-2140; 1360-0443
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02149.x

ABSTRACT Aims  Several decades of research have shown that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adults are at high risk for substance use and substance use disorders (SUDs). These problems may often start prior to young adulthood; however, relatively little is known about risk for substance use in LGB adolescents. The primary aims of this paper were to conduct a meta‐analysis of the relationship between sexual orientation and adolescent substance use and a systematic review and critique of the methodological characteristics of this literature. Methods  Medical and social science journals were searched using Medline and PsychInfo. Studies were included if they tested the relationship between sexual orientation and adolescent substance use. Eighteen published studies were identified. Data analysis procedures followed expert guidelines, and used National Institutes of Health (NIH)‐sponsored meta‐analysis software. Results  LGB adolescents reported higher rates of substance use compared to heterosexual youth (overall odds ratio = 2.89, Cohen's d = 0.59). Effect sizes varied by gender, bisexuality status, sexual orientation definition and recruitment source. None of the studies tested mediation and only one tested moderation. One employed a matched comparison group design, one used a longitudinal design, and very few controlled for possible confounding variables. Conclusions  The odds of substance use for LGB youth were, on average, 190% higher than for heterosexual youth and substantially higher within some subpopulations of LGB youth (340% higher for bisexual youth, 400% higher for females). Causal mechanisms, protective factors and alternative explanations for this effect, as well as long‐term substance use outcomes in LGB youth, remain largely unknown.