Romantic Attraction and Substance Use in 15-Year-Old Adolescents from Eight European Countries

András Költő, Alina Cosma, Honor Young, Nathalie Moreau, Daryna Pavlova, Riki Tesler, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Alessio Vieno, Elizabeth M. Saewyc and Saoirse Nic Gabhainn
Additional contact information
András Költő: Health Promotion Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, H91 TK33 Galway, Ireland
Alina Cosma: Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands
Honor Young: Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement, Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, 1–3 Museum Place, CF10 3BD Cardiff, UK
Nathalie Moreau: Independent Researcher, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
Daryna Pavlova: Department for Monitoring and Evaluation of Social Projects, Ukrainian Institute for Social Research after Oleksandr Yaremenko, 26 Panasa Myrnogo Str., Of. 211, 01011 Kyiv, Ukraine
Riki Tesler: The Department of Health Systems Management, Ariel University, Ramat HaGolan St 65, 40700 Ariel, Israel
Einar B. Thorsteinsson: School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia
Alessio Vieno: Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, 8 via Venezia, 35131 Padova, Italy
Elizabeth M. Saewyc: Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre (SARAVYC), School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, T222-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
Saoirse Nic Gabhainn: Health Promotion Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, H91 TK33 Galway, Ireland

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-21

Abstract: Sexual minority youth are at higher risk of substance use than heterosexual youth. However, most evidence in this area is from North America, and it is unclear whether the findings can be generalized to other cultures and countries. In this investigation, we used data from the 2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study to compare substance use in same- and both-gender attracted 15-year-old adolescents from eight European countries ( n = 14,545) to that of their peers who reported opposite-gender attraction or have not been romantically attracted to anyone. Both-gender attracted, and to a lesser extent, same-gender attracted adolescents were significantly more likely to smoke cigarettes, consume alcohol, get drunk and use cannabis, or be involved in multiple substance use in the last 30 days compared to their opposite-gender attracted peers. Those adolescents who have not been in love had significantly lower odds for substance use than all other youth. The pattern of results remained the same after adjusting for country, gender and family affluence. These findings are compatible with the minority stress and romantic stress theories. They suggest that sexual minority stigma (and love on its own) may contribute to higher substance use among adolescents in European countries.

Keywords: adolescents; romantic attraction; same-gender attraction; both-gender attraction; sexual minority youth; substance use; alcohol consumption; drunkenness; tobacco; cannabis; HBSC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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