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Sexual orientation disparities in prescription drug misuse among a nationally representative sample of adolescents: Prevalence and correlates.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:Sexual minority adolescents (SMA) may be at disproportionate risk for misusing prescription psychotropic medications compared to their heterosexual peers. However, generalizable studies specific to this age group are lacking. The current study aimed to describe the prevalence of sexual orientation disparities in prescription drug misuse among a nationally representative sample of adolescents as well as to examine key correlates of misuse. METHOD:Using data from the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, we conducted stepwise multivariable weighted logistic regressions, sequentially controlling for demographics, experiences of victimization, mental health, and other illicit substance use. RESULTS:Adjusting for grade and race/ethnicity, female SMA and gay and unsure males had significantly elevated odds of ever misusing a prescription drug compared to heterosexual adolescents (ORs from 1.7-2.5). Most sexual orientation disparities among females remained significant with the addition of victimization and mental health covariates but attenuated completely after controlling for other illicit drug use. The effect for unsure males attenuated when victimization variables were included, but the effect for gay males remained significant through the final model. Controlling for other illicit drug use, mental health variables remained significant correlates for females whereas only forced sex was significant for males. CONCLUSION:These results suggest experiences of victimization and mental health partially account for the disparities in prescription drug misuse between SMA and heterosexual adolescents, and their effects may differ by sex. A combination of structural, individual coping, and universal drug prevention approaches should be used to make the largest impact on reducing these disparities.

SUBMITTER: Li DH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5701833 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sexual orientation disparities in prescription drug misuse among a nationally representative sample of adolescents: Prevalence and correlates.

Li Dennis H DH Turner Blair C BC Mustanski Brian B Phillips Gregory L GL

Addictive behaviors 20170928

<h4>Objective</h4>Sexual minority adolescents (SMA) may be at disproportionate risk for misusing prescription psychotropic medications compared to their heterosexual peers. However, generalizable studies specific to this age group are lacking. The current study aimed to describe the prevalence of sexual orientation disparities in prescription drug misuse among a nationally representative sample of adolescents as well as to examine key correlates of misuse.<h4>Method</h4>Using data from the Natio ...[more]

PMID: 29017108

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Project description:To estimate the prevalence and health correlates of insomnia symptoms and their association with comorbid mental disorders in a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States.National representative cross-sectional study.Population-based sample from the US adolescents.A total of 6,483 individuals aged between 13–18 y in the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A) with both individual and parental reports of mental health were included in this study. Participants were classified with insomnia symptoms if they reported difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, and/or early morning awakening, nearly every day for at least 2 w in the past year. Nearly one-third of adolescents reported insomnia symptoms for at least 2 w during the previous year. Hispanic and black youth were significantly more likely to report insomnia symptoms (42.0% and 41.3%, respectively) than non-Hispanic white youth (30.4%). Adolescents with insomnia symptoms were at a higher risk for all classes of mental disorders {odds ratio [OR] (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.4 (2.9–4.0)} including mood, anxiety, behavioral, substance use, and eating disorders, suicidality [OR (95% CI): 2.63 (1.34–5.16)], poor perceived mental health [OR (95% CI): 2.01 (1.02–3.96)], chronic medical conditions [OR (95% CI): 1.94 (1.55–2.43)], smoking [OR (95% CI: 2.60 (1.00–6.72)], and obesity [OR (95% CI: 1.46 (1.10–1.93)] than those without insomnia symptoms. Adolescents with insomnia symptoms and comorbid mental disorders manifested even greater rates of these indicators of negative health behaviors and disorders than those with mental disorders alone (P < 0.05).Insomnia symptoms are reported by one-third of adolescents in the general population. Insomnia symptoms, even in the absence of concomitant depression or other mental disorders, are associated with serious health conditions, risk factors, and suicidality. Comorbid mental disorders potentiate the effect of insomnia symptoms on both physical and mental health. Further evaluation of the causes and effective interventions to reduce insomnia symptoms may have a significant effect on public health.

Project description:BackgroundResearch has shown that sexual minorities (SMs) (e.g. lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals), compared to their heterosexual counterparts, may engage in riskier health behaviors, are at higher risk of some adverse health outcomes, and are more likely to experience reduced health care access and utilization. However, few studies have examined how the interplay between race and sexual orientation impacts a range of health measures in a nationally representative sample of the U.S.PopulationMethodsTo address these gaps in the literature, we sought to investigate associations between sexual orientation identity and health/healthcare outcomes among U.S. women and men within and across racial/ethnic groups. Using 2013-2015 National Health Interview Survey data (N = 91,913) we employed Poisson regression with robust variance to directly estimate prevalence ratios (PR) comparing health and healthcare outcomes among SMs of color to heterosexuals of color and white heterosexuals, stratified by gender and adjusting for potential confounders.ResultsThe sample consisted of 52% women, with approximately 2% of each sex identifying as SMs. Compared to their heterosexual counterparts, white (PR = 1.25 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08-1.45]) and black (1.54 [1.07, 2.20]) SM women were more likely to report heavy drinking. Hispanic/Latino SM women and men were more likely to experience short sleep duration compared to white heterosexual women (1.33 [1.06, 1.66]) and men (1.51 [1.21, 1.90). Black SM women had a much higher prevalence of stroke compared to black heterosexual women (3.25 [1.63, 6.49]) and white heterosexual women (4.51 [2.16, 9.39]). White SM women were more likely than white heterosexual women to be obese (1.31 [1.15, 1.48]), report cancer (1.40 [1.07, 1.82]) and report stroke (1.91 [1.16, 3.15]. White (2.41 [2.24, 2.59]), black (1.40[1.20, 1.63]), and Hispanic/Latino SM (2.17 [1.98, 2.37]) men were more likely to have been tested for HIV than their heterosexual counterparts.ConclusionsSexual minorities had a higher prevalence of some poor health behaviors, health outcomes, and healthcare access issues, and these disparities differed across racial groups. Further research is needed to investigate potential pathways, such as discrimination, in the social environment that may help explain the relationship between sexual orientation and health.

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Sexual orientation disparities in prescription drug misuse among a nationally representative sample of adolescents: Prevalence and correlates.

Publications

Sexual orientation disparities in prescription drug misuse among a nationally representative sample of adolescents: Prevalence and correlates.

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