Sign up for alerts

Summer 2010 | Vol 13 No 4

Research update

Mark de la Hey

Discrimination related to sexual orientation increases risk of substance abuse

The experience of discrimination appears to increase the likelihood of substance abuse among lesbian, gay and bisexual adults, according to research from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Researchers used data on more than 34,000 American adults from wave 2 of the 2004–2005 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, 577 of whom identified themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB). Overall, substance use disorders were more prevalent among LGB adults (28%) than among heterosexual adults (11%). Approximately two thirds of LGB adults experienced at least one type of discrimination in their lifetimes. In the past year, 38 per cent of LGB adults reported discrimination related to their sexual orientation; 48 per cent reported gender discrimination; 50 per cent reported racial/ethnic discrimination; and 11 per cent reported all three types of discrimination. For LGB adults who reported all three forms of discrimination, the adjusted odds of having a substance use disorder in the past year were almost four times greater than for those who reported no discrimination. Those who reported lifetime racial discrimination only or both sexual discrimination and gender discrimination also had significantly increased odds of substance use disorders compared with those who reported no discrimination. The authors conclude that health care professionals should take into account “the role multiple types of discrimination plays in the development and treatment of substance use disorders among LGB adults.”

American Journal of Public Health, January 14, 2010 online: e1-e7, doi: 10.2015/AJPH.2009.163147. Sean Esteban McCabe et al., Substance Abuse Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.