Problem drinking trajectories of female sexual assault survivors, sexual orientation and race

In this study, we examined problem drinking among female sexual assault survivors to analyze differences by sexual orientation and race. Sexual minorities experience greater negative impact following sexual assault than heterosexuals, such as elevated problem drinking. This effect may be even stronger among bisexual than homosexual survivors. Additionally, negative impact on sexual assault may be especially pronounced for Black sexual minorities. A sample of bisexual and heterosexual community women (N = 905) completed three mail surveys over a three year period about sexual victimization, two measures of problem drinking (TWEAK, MAST), race and sexual minority status. We examined the longitudinal data with a hierarchical linear modeling approach. Results showed that overall, problem drinking decreased over the data collection period. For both problem drinking measures, a significant interaction between race and sexual orientation emerged. In this way, sexual orientation differences in problem drinking were greater among Black women than non-Black women. For the TWEAK measure, there was also a significant interaction between time and sexual orientation such that bisexual women’s problem drinking decreased faster over time than that of heterosexual women. These results suggest that sexual minority status and race play a role in recovery and should be considered in treatment protocols. Furthermore, health policy must be sensitive to disparities by race and sexual orientation in the recovery process of sexual assault survivors.