|
Citation
|
Felner JK, Wisdom JP, Williams T, Katuska L, Haley SJ, Jun HJ, Corliss HL. Psychiatr. Serv. 2019; ePub(ePub): appips201900029. |
|
Affiliation
|
School of Public Health and Institute for Behavioral and Community Health, San Diego State University, San Diego (Felner, Jun, Corliss); Wisdom Consulting, New York (Wisdom); Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics (Williams) and Department of Health Policy and Management (Haley), Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, City University of New York, New York; Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (Katuska). |
|
Abstract
|
OBJECTIVE: The authors qualitatively examined how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) young adults with probable substance use disorders conceptualized their substance use vis-à-vis their LGBTQ identities.
METHODS: Individual, in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 59 LGBTQ young adults (ages 21-34) who were participants in a larger longitudinal cohort study and who met criteria for a probable substance use disorder. Data were analyzed via iterative, thematic analytic processes.
RESULTS: Participants' narratives highlighted processes related to minority stress that shape substance use, including proximal LGBTQ stressors (e.g., self-stigma and expectations of rejection) and distal LGBTQ stressors (e.g., interpersonal and structural discrimination) and associated coping. Participants also described sociocultural influences, including the ubiquitous availability of substances within LGBTQ social settings, as salient contributors to their substance use and development of substance use disorders. Participants who considered themselves transgender or other gender minorities, all of whom identified as sexual minorities, described unique stressors and coping at the intersection of their minority identities (e.g., coping with two identity development and disclosure periods), which shaped their substance use over time.
CONCLUSIONS: Multilevel minority stressors and associated coping via substance use in adolescence and young adulthood, coupled with LGBTQ-specific sociocultural influences, contribute to the development of substance use disorders among some LGBTQ young adults. Treatment providers should address clients' substance use vis-à-vis their LGBTQ identities and experiences with related stressors and sociocultural contexts and adopt culturally humble and LGBTQ-affirming treatment approaches. Efforts to support LGBTQ youths and young adults should focus on identifying ways of socializing outside of substance-saturated environments.
Language: en |