TY - JOUR
T1 - Substance Use and Mental Health Disparities among Sexual Minority Girls
T2 - Results from the Pittsburgh Girls Study
AU - Marshal, Michael P.
AU - Sucato, Gina
AU - Stepp, Stephanie D.
AU - Hipwell, Alison
AU - Smith, Helen A.
AU - Friedman, Mark S.
AU - Chung, Tammy
AU - Markovic, Nina
N1 - Funding Information:
This manuscript was supported by the following grants from the National Institutes of Health : MH056630, DA012237, and DA030385 .
PY - 2012/2
Y1 - 2012/2
N2 - Purpose: To examine substance use and mental health disparities between sexual minority girls and heterosexual girls. Methods: Data from the Pittsburgh Girls Study were analyzed. All girls were 17 years old. Girls were included if they were not missing self-reported sexual orientation and mental health data (N = 527). Thirty-one girls (6%) endorsed same-sex romantic orientation/identity or current same-sex attraction. Bivariate analyses were conducted to test group differences in the prevalence of substance use and suicidal behavior, and group differences in depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder (BPD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD) symptoms. Results: Compared with heterosexual girls, sexual minority girls reported higher past-year rates of cigarette, alcohol, and heavy alcohol use, higher rates of suicidal ideation and self-harm, and higher average depression, anxiety, BPD, ODD, and CD symptoms. Conclusions: Sexual minority girls are an underrepresented group in the health disparities literature, and compared with heterosexual girls, they are at higher risk for mental health problems, most likely because of minority stress experiences such as discrimination and victimization. The disparities found in this report highlight the importance of discussing sexual orientation as part of a comprehensive preventive care visit.
AB - Purpose: To examine substance use and mental health disparities between sexual minority girls and heterosexual girls. Methods: Data from the Pittsburgh Girls Study were analyzed. All girls were 17 years old. Girls were included if they were not missing self-reported sexual orientation and mental health data (N = 527). Thirty-one girls (6%) endorsed same-sex romantic orientation/identity or current same-sex attraction. Bivariate analyses were conducted to test group differences in the prevalence of substance use and suicidal behavior, and group differences in depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder (BPD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD) symptoms. Results: Compared with heterosexual girls, sexual minority girls reported higher past-year rates of cigarette, alcohol, and heavy alcohol use, higher rates of suicidal ideation and self-harm, and higher average depression, anxiety, BPD, ODD, and CD symptoms. Conclusions: Sexual minority girls are an underrepresented group in the health disparities literature, and compared with heterosexual girls, they are at higher risk for mental health problems, most likely because of minority stress experiences such as discrimination and victimization. The disparities found in this report highlight the importance of discussing sexual orientation as part of a comprehensive preventive care visit.
KW - Adolescent mental health disparities
KW - Adolescent substance use
KW - LGBT health
KW - Sexual minority girls
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jpag.2011.06.011
DO - 10.1016/j.jpag.2011.06.011
M3 - Article
C2 - 22051788
AN - SCOPUS:84855326676
SN - 1083-3188
VL - 25
SP - 15
EP - 18
JO - Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology
JF - Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology
IS - 1
ER -