Smoking, drinking and drug use among sexual minority college students after adjusting for traditional risk factors

Introduction: While it is well-established that sexual minorities demonstrate higher rates of smoking, drinking and drug use; the impact sexual identity has on these outcomes after adjusting for other traditional risk factors (e.g. anxiety, depression, age, gender) is not well documented. The current study investigates the role sexual identity has on smoking, drinking and drug use after adjusting for traditional risk factors.

Methods: A secondary data analysis was performed on the Spring 2006 version of the National College Health Assessment, which collected data from >94, 000 college students from 117 college campuses. Multivariate regression models were developed to investigate the role all explanatory variables have on each of the outcomes simultaneously. In addition, these models allowed for the investigation of the dependent relationship between smoking, drinking and drug use.

Results: Previous results are extended by this analysis (that sexual minorities have higher rates of smoking, drinking and drug use). In addition, our results suggest that the impact sexual identity has on smoking, drinking, and drug use is significantly reduced when adjusting for other traditional factors.

Conclusion: The influence of sexual identity on smoking, drinking and drug use is mediated by other traditional risk factors. That is, an interaction effect exists between sexual identity and numerous traditional risk factors. Therefore, interventions to reduce smoking, drinking and drug use may need to be tailored to this population in order to enhance effectiveness.