Cigarette use as a coping strategy for managing psychological distress among LGB youths

Studies on representative samples document that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youths are at increased risk for cigarette use relative to their heterosexual peers. One potential reason for this disparity is that smoking may serve a beneficial function for LGB youths, such that it provides a coping strategy for managing the gay-specific stressors many LGB youths confront. Such maladaptive coping strategies may be particularly important for those youths who lack other supports (e.g., supportive family). METHOD: The current report longitudinally examines these issues among an ethnically diverse sample of 156 LGB youths (ages 14 – 21) living in New York City. RESULTS: Fifty-one percent of youths started smoking or continued to smoke cigarettes over the one-year study period. As hypothesized, after imposing demographic controls, significant associations were identified between cigarette use, family support, and subsequent psychological distress. Specifically, significant interactions revealed that among youths who lacked high levels of family support, cigarette smoking was significantly associated with fewer anxious symptoms and conduct problems one year later. In contrast, youths who had more supportive families derived fewer psychological benefits from cigarette use. Cigarette use was also associated with fewer depressive symptoms regardless of the level of family support. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest LGB youths who lack family supports may seek out alternative coping strategies to manage the stress in their lives, resulting in lower psychological distress. These findings suggest that smoking cession efforts for LGB youths may need to address the unmet needs of social support and distress to be maximally effective.