Alcohol and Cannabis Use Trajectories and Outcomes in a Sample of Hispanic, White, and Asian Sexual and Gender Minority Emerging Adults

Michael S. Dunbar, Daniel Siconolfi, Anthony Rodriguez, Rachana Seelam, Jordan P. Davis, Joan S. Tucker and Elizabeth J. D’Amico
Additional contact information
Michael S. Dunbar: RAND Corporation, 4750 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Daniel Siconolfi: RAND Corporation, 4750 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Anthony Rodriguez: RAND Corporation, 20 Park Plaza, Suite 920, Boston, MA 02116, USA
Rachana Seelam: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA
Jordan P. Davis: Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 669 W 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Joan S. Tucker: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA
Elizabeth J. D’Amico: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: Substance use disproportionately affects health and psychosocial outcomes for some racial/ethnic groups, but few longitudinal studies examine the extent to which sexual and gender minority (SGM) emerging adults of different racial/ethnic groups may experience disparities in outcomes at similar levels of alcohol or cannabis use. This study used five waves of annual survey data (spanning 2015 (average age 18) to 2020 (average age 23)) from an ongoing longitudinal cohort study of emerging adults. In the subset of 359 SGM emerging adults, separate sequelae of change models assessed differences in trajectories of alcohol or cannabis use (past 30-day frequency) and multiple health and psychosocial outcomes across Hispanic, Asian, and White individuals. White SGM emerging adults showed higher baseline levels of alcohol and cannabis frequency compared to Hispanic and Asian peers, but all groups showed similar rates of change (slope) over time. We observed few racial/ethnic differences in SGM emerging adult outcomes at the same levels of alcohol or cannabis use; that is, racial/ethnic groups showed similar patterns on most health and psychosocial outcomes; however, some differences emerged. For example, Asian respondents reported less engagement in sex with casual partners after using alcohol, marijuana, or other drugs compared to their White peers, at the same levels of alcohol use (β = −0.579, p = 0.03) or cannabis use (β = −0.737, p = 0.007). Findings underscore a need to consider multiple outcome domains and factors beyond additive stress in examining the effects of substance use across different groups of SGM individuals. More longitudinal studies with large, contemporary, and diverse samples of SGM emerging adults are needed to better characterize similarities and differences in patterns of substance use and use-related consequences in relation to intersecting SGM, racial/ethnic, and other identities.

Keywords: sexual minority; gender minority; race/ethnicity; substance use; trajectory analysis; emerging adulthood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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