Abstract
Purpose: This study updates psychiatric epidemiological research by providing recent prevalence estimates of major depression and alcohol and illicit drug abuse or dependence among sexual minority (SM) adults. Methods: Using the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, we estimated prevalence differences between SM and heterosexual adults, and within SM subgroups, with logistic regression models. Results: Bisexual adults faced an increased burden across all outcomes compared with other SM adults. Gay males had the highest prevalence of alcohol and illicit drug abuse or dependence. Conclusions: Future research must consider sex differences within SM subgroups for development of targeted interventions.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 261-266 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | LGBT Health |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2019 |
Funding
This article was supported by a developmental grant awarded to principal investigator S.L.R. (CFAR-FCHC-15-1) by: (1) the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded program (P30 AI060354), which is supported by the following NIH Co-Funding and Participating Institutes and Centers: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Cancer Institute, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Aging, Fogarty International Center, and the Office of AIDS Research; (2) the Harvard Global Health Institute. In addition, the authors thank Shanshan Liu and Charis Crofton at Boston Children's Hospital for lending their expertise in the calculations of weighted age-adjusted prevalence. This article was supported by a developmental grant awarded to principal investigator S.L.R. (CFAR-FCHC-15-1) by: (1) the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded program (P30 AI060354), which is supported by the following NIH Co-Funding and Participating Institutes and Centers: FIG. 1. Weighted age-adjusted prevalence of life-time (N = 42,545) and past 12-month major depressive episode (N = 42,483) and past 12-month alcohol and illicit drug abuse or dependence (N = 50,951) by sexual orientation and sex.
Keywords
- major depressive disorder
- mental health
- sexual minority
- substance abuse disorder
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Dermatology
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Urology
