Internalized Homophobia and Substance Use Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Persons

Demographic, Mental Health, Behavioral, and Psychosocial Factors Associated with Cigarette Smoking Status Among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men: The P18 Cohort Study

“…Prior investigations have noted an absence of associations between internalized homophobia/antihomosexual bias and substance use including cigarette smoking, particularly among males. 30,31 Where associations have been noted, different potential explanations have been offered. One theory posited by Pachankis et al, which may hold relevance for our finding, suggests that smoking offers a means of appearing more masculine and may therefore be an attempt to conform to gender role norms or to conceal one's sexual orientation.…”

Associations of Discrimination and Violence With Smoking Among Emerging Adults: Differences by Gender and Sexual Orientation

“…A few risk factors have been empirically tested and significantly associated with smoking outcomes, such as internalized homophobia (Amadio & Chung, 2004), alcohol abuse and depression (McKirnan, Tolou-Shams, Turner, Dyslin, & Hope, 2006), issues involving disclosure of sexual minority status (Rosario, Schrimshaw, & Hunter, 2009), and early sexual experience (Lombardi, Silvestre, Janosky, Fisher, & Rinaldo, 2008). Socially based stressors, such as discrimination and violence victimization, are also identified risk factors salient to negative health outcomes among sexual minority men and women (Herek, Gillis, & Cogan, 1999;Mays & Cochran, 2001;Meyer, 1995).…”

Culturally (In)competent? Dismantling Health Care Barriers for Sexual Minority Women

“…Loss of family and other support as a result of sexual identity disclosure (Bregman et al, 2013;Savin-Williams & Ream, 2003) is likely to elevate stress levels, whereas connection to and acculturation within the gay community may have a buffering effect against stress (e.g., Condit, Kitaji, Drabble, & Trocki, 2011;Rosario, 2008). A limited body of research has demonstrated that negative reactions from others and general cultural bias against sexual minority individuals may be internalized, resulting in feelings of low self-worth that are expressed through risky behaviors such as hazardous alcohol use (Amadio, 2004(Amadio, , 2006. In the general population, many health risk behaviors are thought to occur as a means of coping with stress (Laitinen, Ek, & Sovio, 2002) or negative emotion (Cooper, Kuntsche, Levitt, Barber, & Wolf, in press).…”