Sexual orientation and alcohol-related harms in Canadian youth

Wilson, Maria; Asbridge, Mark; Woolcott, Christy; Langille, Donald B.

doi:10.17269/s41997-018-0032-y

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 20 publications

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“…the impact of discrimination) may have a more generalised and cumulative health impact rather than being specific to one illness, and the focus on a single disease/condition may not adequately capture the generalised impact of the social exposure on overall health [10]. The practice of disease-specific epidemiological investigations is also common among studies of sexual minority health, with many prior studies examining disparities across sexual orientation in a narrow range of health outcomes such as substance use [11], mental health [12], and physical health [13]. Yet, the mechanism through which minority stress is theorised to impact health outcomes, namely minority stress [8], are not specific to any given disorder or condition and are expected to have a generalised, cumulative health impact.…”

Section: Testing the Minority Stress Theory Using A Narrow Set Of Hea...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Disparities in self-reported Mental Health, Physical Health, and Substance Use Across Sexual Orientations in Canada

Bellows,

Kim,

Bai

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Background While prior studies have shown LGB individuals have elevated risk of poor mental health, poor physical health, and substance use, existing study designs may be improved by using representative samples, wider ranges of health outcomes, heterosexual comparison groups, and disaggregated data. The goal of this study is to provide estimates of multiple health disparities across sexual orientations in Canada based on these principles. Methods Using data from 2009-2014 Canadian Community Health Surveys, a sample of 19,980,000 weighted individuals was created. Outcomes included mental health, physical health, binge drinking, illicit drug use, and cannabis use. The study used logistic regression models adjusted by covariates, stratified by sex, to estimate health disparities across sexual orientations. Results Among LGB individuals, there was evidence for elevated risk of poor mental health (i.e. gay men, bisexual men, bisexual women), poor physical health (i.e. bisexual men, bisexual women), binge drinking (i.e. lesbians, bisexual women), illicit drug use (i.e. lesbians, bisexual women), and cannabis use (i.e. lesbians, bisexual women) relative to their heterosexual counterparts. Those identifying as 'don’t know' or 'refuse' showed reduced odds of substance use. Bisexual women exhibited highest disparities in health outcomes, e.g. OR=3.3, 95% 2.58 to 4.22 for poor mental health. Trends over time showed worsening mental health among bisexual women (relative to changes in heterosexual women), and decreasing substance use in gay and bisexual men, and lesbians. Conclusion This study highlights health disparities across sexual orientations in Canada, especially bisexual women, calling for targeted interventions (e.g. increased training of service providers in working with bisexual women and community outreach against biphobia). Future research should aim to explore these disparities longitudinally while also including the use of administrative-linked health data to reduce potential bias in self-reported data.

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