Associations of Sexual Identity and Gender Identity with Substance Use and Mental Health in Young Adulthood.
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| Title: | Associations of Sexual Identity and Gender Identity with Substance Use and Mental Health in Young Adulthood. |
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| Authors: | Bae, Dayoung (AUTHOR), Leventhal, Adam M. (AUTHOR), Harlow, Alyssa F. (AUTHOR), Han, Dae-Hee (AUTHOR), Krueger, Evan A. (AUTHOR), Barrington-Trimis, Jessica L. (AUTHOR), Conn, Bridgid M. (AUTHOR), Cho, Junhan (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Substance Use & Misuse. 2026, Vol. 61 Issue 4, p609-619. 11p. |
| Subjects: | Mental illness risk factors, Competency assessment (Law), Substance abuse risk factors, Mental depression risk factors, Risk assessment, Substance abuse, High schools, Repeated measures design, Gender-nonconforming people, Psychology of gay people, Asexual people, Gender identity, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Psychology of lesbians, Research funding, Sexual orientation identity, Psychology of LGBTQ+ people, Nicotine, High school students, Questionnaires, Logistic regression analysis, LGBTQ+ people, Transgender people, Smoking, Descriptive statistics, Anxiety, Binge drinking, Minority stress, Longitudinal method, Odds ratio, Health behavior, Cisgender people, Heterosexuals, Sexual minorities, Comparative studies, Data analysis software, Alcoholism, Psychological tests, Sociodemographic factors, Confidence intervals, Bisexual people, Regression analysis, Psychosocial factors, Adults |
| Geographic Terms: | California |
| Abstract: | Background: Research showing that sexual and gender minority (SGM) young adults are at increased risk of substance use and mental health symptoms have insufficiently accounted for SGM identity diversity. This study examined differences in substance use and mental health symptoms among young adults with diverse sexual (heterosexual, lesbian/gay, asexual, bisexual, pansexual, and queer) and gender (cisgender, transgender, and on-binary) identities. Methods: Five longitudinal survey waves (2019–2023) of young adults (n = 2724; mean age = 21.7) from Southern California were used to estimate time-varying contemporaneous associations of SGM identities with eight outcomes. Outcomes were: past 30-d alcohol, combustible cigarette, e-cigarette, or other drug (e.g., prescription painkillers, stimulants) use and binge drinking, and depression and anxiety symptoms. Results: Young adults with transgender and non-binary identities (vs. cisgender female) reported higher cigarette, e-cigarette, and other drug use, and greater depression. Bisexual identities showed higher use in all six substance outcomes, gay/lesbian identities reported increased alcohol and combustible cigarette use, and pansexual identities reported higher e-cigarette and other drug use (vs. heterosexual). All sexual minority identities displayed higher depression and anxiety levels, except asexual identities, who showed positive associations with depression symptoms only. Associations did not vary by time, stable vs. dynamic identity status, or sexual identity-gender identity intersections. Conclusion: Young adults with SGM identities report significantly higher levels of substance use and mental health problems compared to cisgender and heterosexual identities, with heterogeneity in associations across diverse SGM identities. Inclusive SGM assessment could inform precise and tailored young adult behavioral health prevention and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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