Social Risk Factors Associated with Substance Abuse among Gay and Lesbian Youth

Yolanda C. Padilla, PhD, University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work
James A. Neff, PhD, University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work
Donna L. Rew, University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing

Purpose: Despite a higher risk for substance abuse among gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) youth, there is limited research on the factors that influence GLBT youths' decisions to use substances. Little is known about factors related to the coming out process, self-esteem, social support, and sense of community that may contribute to or detract from the likelihood that GLBT youth will or will not use substances such as cigarettes, alcohol, cocaine, and other illegal drugs. Expanding our knowledge in this area will allow for the design of more effective health promotion interventions to enhance the wee-being of population. The purpose of this project is to conduct a pilot study by analyzing an existing data set of 5281 gay, lesbian, bisexual and questioning (GLB/Q) youth aged 25 and under to examine one specific health risk behavior in this population, substance use, and determine the social risk factors and protective factors associated with its use across multiple contexts.

Research Aims: To examine the relationship between factors at the individual/personal level and risk of substance use, examine the relationship between factors at the level of family/other social relationships and risk of substance use, examine the relationship between factors at the community level and risk of substance sue, examine the direct/indirect effects of protective/risk mechanisms at all 3 levels on the risk of substance abuse, and to test whether the effects of individual, family, and community factors on the risk of substance abuse differ by age, gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation identification (gay, lesbian, bisexual or questioning).

Methods: The use of national-level data from the Internet Survey of Queer and Questioning Youth conducted by OutProud, the National coalition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth. This data set represents one of the largest bodies of data collected on GLBT youth and in contrast to prior studies on GLBT youth, was not limited to a specific geographic area and includes respondents form all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The data set consists of 537 variables, including eight variables about substance use. This study is based on a social ecological conceptual model that views substance abuse as a health risk behavior. Descriptive analysis of the data as well as multivariate analysis will be conducted. First multiple regression will be used to estimate the effects of variables at each level (individual, family , and community) on the risk of substance abuse among GLB/Q youth. Second, structural equation modeling will be used to simultaneously consider the effects of variables across all levels of interest on the risk of substance use and to determine the effects of mediating and moderating variables.