Substance Use of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Heterosexual College Students Dianne L. Kerr, PhD, MCHES; Kele Ding, PhD; Julie Chaya, MA Objective: To compare self-identified lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) college students to heterosexual peers and to each other on alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) measures and alcohol use consequences. Methods: Preexisting data (Falls 2009-2011) from the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA-II) were analyzed. Results: Bisexual college students had greater odds of ATOD use than heterosexual and gay/lesbian students. Bisexual women had the highest levels
I
n general, lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adolescents and young adults have higher rates of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use and misuse when compared to their heterosexual counterparts.1-6 Use of ATOD is especially common among LGB college students7-12 who experience more negative alcohol use consequences than heterosexuals.10,11 In addition, ATOD use is associated with many health risk behaviors and problems among LGB youth.8,11-14 Sexual minority youth experience higher rates of depression, suicide ideation and attempts,1,14-19 violence, victimization, personal safety issues,1,11,13,20 and higher rates of unprotected sexual behaviors1,8,21,22 than heterosexual youth. These health risk behaviors are often attributed to “gayrelated”23 or “minority stress”24 that may exacerbate ATOD use among LGB individuals. Despite these health problems and their association with ATOD use and misuse, there is a dearth of large studies on substance use among LGB young adults, and the college LGB sub-group in particular. College is a time of emancipation from parents and adjustment to a new environment and social scene where ATOD use is common and often encouraged by peers. LGB college students, in particular, may experience an unwelcoming or hostile Dianne L. Kerr, Associate Professor, Kele Ding, Associate Professor, and Julie Chaya, Doctoral Research Assistant, Health Education and Promotion, School of Health Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH. Correspondence Dr Kerr; [email protected]
Am J Health Behav.™ 2014;38(6):951-962
of use. LGB students had more serious consequences due to alcohol use. Conclusions: ATOD use among LGB students was more prevalent than heterosexuals during the past 30 days, year, and lifetime. LGB students report more negative alcohol consequences. Key words: alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (ATOD); Lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB); sexual minorities; college students Am J Health Behav. 2014;38(6):951-962 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.38.6.17
college environment. A recent national college climate survey of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students, faculty, and staff determined LGBQ respondents were significantly more likely to experience harassment when compared with heterosexual respondents and were 7 times more likely to indicate the harassment was based on their sexual identity. In addition, LGBQ respondents were more likely to perceive or observe harassment on campus and indicate this harassment was based on sexual identity when compared with heterosexual respondents.25 Experiencing or observing incivility or harassment on college campuses has been associated with alcohol and drug use among sexual minority students.13 Much of the research that is available on college youth combines lesbian and bisexual women together and gay and bisexual men together to increase the sample size for analysis purposes. The Institute of Medicine advises against this practice and recommends that these groups be studied separately.26 Previous research on LGB college students is summarized in the following sections. Lesbian/Bisexual vs. Heterosexual College Women Bisexual college women are significantly more likely to use tobacco, binge drink, and use marijuana than heterosexual women.27 Lesbian and bisexual women (combined) are more likely to use tobacco, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, downers, tranquilizers, amphetamines, and psychedelics in the past year when compared to heterosexual
951
Substance Use of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Heterosexual College Students undergraduate women.10 A single campus study revealed alcohol use did not differ among lesbians, bisexuals, and heterosexual women, but lesbian and bisexual (LB) women were more likely to smoke cigarettes, use marijuana, ecstasy, and other drugs, and suffer more alcohol-related consequences than heterosexual women.10 Similarly, Ford and Jasinski9 found bisexual women more likely to use marijuana and other illicit drugs. In a study that addressed 3 measures of sexual orientation (attraction, behavior, and identity), women who described themselves as being more attracted to women had higher rates of smoking, using opioid analgesics (eg, Vicodin, Oxycontin, Tylenol with codeine), and using marijuana than heterosexual women. In contrast, women who reported they had sex with only women did not differ from the group that had sex with only men.28 Research that investigates illicit drug use has found lesbian and bisexual women more likely to report use of certain drugs in particular. Parsons, Kelly, and Wells29 studied club drug using women and found LB females more likely to use LSD, ecstasy, cocaine, and methamphetamines and to use club drugs at a greater rate than heterosexual women. Ecstasy was the most commonly used club drug among the LB women. Lesbians and bisexual women were combined for analysis purposes, however, which may have masked differences between the 2 groups. Research that investigates lesbians and bisexual women separately consistently has shown bisexual women are more likely to use ATOD than lesbians, and have higher rates of ATOD use than any other subgroup of the LGB spectrum.9,27,30 Gay/Bisexual and Heterosexual College Men Research indicates gay male college students have lower rates of binge drinking than their heterosexual counterparts but higher rates for use of certain other drugs.8,10,28,30 McCabe et al10 found gay and bisexual (GB) men more than twice as likely to use marijuana in the past year and more than 6 times as likely to have used ecstasy before college. In contrast, other research with college populations has determined no differences among gay, bisexual, and heterosexual men in marijuana use.9,27 A study of college students from 10 universities in North Carolina compared men who self-identified as gay to heterosexual men. Investigators found gay men were more likely to report a lifetime history of illicit drug use but no more likely to report using illicit drugs in the past 30 days when compared to heterosexual college men. Only 43 men (4.2%) in the study self-identified as gay, however, which limited the researchers’ ability to determine differences.31 Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare selfidentified LGB undergraduate students to their heterosexual peers and to each other on a number
952
of ATOD measures and alcohol use consequences. A pre-existing data set was used to compare these undergraduates (N = 65,281). Research Questions 1. Do lesbian, gay, and bisexual students differ from heterosexual students in alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use in the past 30 days? 2. Do lesbian, gay, and bisexual students differ from heterosexual students in lifetime or ever use of ATOD? 3. Do lesbian, gay, and bisexual students differ from heterosexual students in nonmedical use of prescription medications in the past year? Hypotheses 1. LGB students will report higher prevalence and have greater odds of using alcohol, tobacco and other drugs in the past 30 days than heterosexual students. 2. LGB students will report higher prevalence and have greater odds of using ATOD in their lifetimes than heterosexual students. 3. LGB students will report higher prevalence and greater odds of nonmedical use of prescription medications in the past year as compared to heterosexual students. METHODS Three semesters of data (Fall semesters 20092011) from the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHANCHA-II) were requested for the study.32 Institutions participating in the ACHA-NCHA-II included 57 in Fall 2009 (N = 34,208), 39 in Fall 2010 (N = 30,093), and 44 in Fall 2011 (N = 27,774).33 Most surveys were collected from the south (36.2%) and the least from the Midwest (9.8%). The majority of these were public institutions (65.1%) and 4-year colleges (92.8%). In addition, 72.5% of the universities were located in an area with a population size of 50,000 or less, 52% had 10,000 or more students, 81% were listed as master’s degree-granting or higher in the Carnegie classification system, 53% were classified as research institutions, and nearly 94% were American College Health Association member institutions. In terms of diversity, 4.4% were postsecondary minority institutions, 2.8% were historically black colleges or universities, 2% were high Hispanic enrollment institutions and 1.6% were native Hawaiian serving institutions. Three semesters of data were used to assure large numbers of lesbian/gay and bisexual students were included in the sample. This enabled separate analyses to be conducted on each sexual orientation group. Sample Selection from Pre-existing Data The ACHA-NCHA II sample is a convenience nonprobability sample without sample weighting. We limited our analysis to undergraduate students (ages 18-25) who self-identified as heterosexual,
Kerr et al gay/lesbian, and bisexual from these 3 semesters. Graduate students and international students were excluded, as were students that self-identified as “unsure” (N = 1491, 1.7%) on the sexual orientation question. Such exclusion minimizes the variation of study participants and enhances the comparability across sexual orientations. The final sample included 42,986 women and 22,295 men. Of the women, 40,869 self-identified as heterosexual (95%), 1579 as bisexual (3.7%) and 538 as lesbian (1.3%); among the men, 21,071 self-identified as heterosexual (94.5%), 751 as gay (3.4%) and 471 as bisexual (2.1%). The total number of participants was 65,281. Instrumentation The initial data were collected with the ACHANCHA-II. The data, according to ACHA, serves as a “reference group” and a “set of schools with which one can compare data” which “appears to be valid and reliable in representing the nation’s college students.”34 The survey was developed by an interdisciplinary team of college health professionals, pilot-tested, and compared to national surveys such as the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey.34 For the original dataset provided to us, a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of .887 was found for the 26 drug questions on drug (ever use) for the total sample, and among those that used at least one drug, an alpha of .872, indicating a high level of internal consistency. For the 19 drug questions that measured monthly use, the Cronbach’s alpha was .754 for all participants, and .712 for those who had used at least one of the drugs monthly. Two separate Cronbach’s alphas were calculated because those in the total sample that reported no drug use each time would inflate the reliability score. The ACHA-NCHA-II has been administered since Fall 2008. In developing the revised 2008 instrument, some of the initial ACHA-NCHA questions were modified and new questions were added pertinent to the present study. These included updated lists of illegal drugs, and the use of non-prescribed prescription drugs. The term “nonmedical use of prescription medication (NUPM)” is used to refer to student use of prescription drugs not prescribed to them.
only undergraduate students who self-identified as heterosexual, gay/lesbian, or bisexual in terms of sexual identity. The sexual identity measure was used because no data were available on sexual attraction in the pre-existing data set, and although there was a behavior question that asked whether subjects had sex with men, women, or both, it was determined by the investigators that those who may report same sex sexual behavior during young adulthood may be experimenting or be “bicurious” and classifying them as gay or bisexual may over-represent the sexual minorities in this sample. Therefore, to determine sexual orientation, the NCHA-II question #48 “What is your sexual orientation?” was used with response options of “Heterosexual,” “Gay/lesbian,” “Bisexual,” and “Unsure.” “Unsure” responses were not included in the current analysis. The student’s self-reported sexual orientation was used throughout the data analysis process. Additional demographic questions included in the present study were question #47 “Gender,” question #51 “Year in school,” question #54 “Race/ ethnicity,” question #57 “Relationship status,” and question #58 “Place of residence.” Information provided by the dataset such as region of the country (Northeast, Midwest, South, or West) and school identification number were also used in data analysis. Table 1 contains details concerning the demographic variables. The sex variable was analyzed to differentiate drug use and drinking consequences between men and women. Race, grade level, relationship status, and place of residence were used as covariates in the data analysis, whereas regional and school identifiers also were used as control variables. The ATOD measures that were included were questions #8, #16 and #18. Question #8 read as follows: Within the last 30 days, on how many days did you use: Cigarettes; Tobacco from a water pipe (hookah); Cigars, little cigars, clove cigarettes; smokeless tobacco; Alcohol (beer, wine, liquor); Marijuana (pot, weed, hashish, hash oil); Cocaine (crack, rock, freebase); Methamphetamine (crystal meth, ice, crank); Other amphetamines (diet pills, bennies); Sedatives (downers, ludes); Hallucinogens (LSD, PCP); Anabolic Steroids (Testosterone); Opiates (heroin, smack); Inhalants (glue, solvents, gas); MDMA (Ecstasy); Other club drugs (GHB, Ketamine, Rohypnol); Other Illegal Drugs.
Variables/Measures Overall, 3 types of variables were retrieved from the original dataset for the purposes of the data analysis process. They included sexual orientation and other demographic information, ATOD use including NUPM, and consequences of alcohol use. The measurement of sexual orientation is a complex issue in LGBT research. Although sexual orientation is a combination of sexual attraction, sexual behavior, and sexual identity,35 researchers typically do not include all 3 of these components on survey instruments. For the purposes of this study, the investigators desired to investigate
Response options for each included: “Never used,” “Have used, but not in last 30 days,” “1-2 days,” “3-5 days,” “6-9 days,” “10-19 days,” “20-29 days,” or “Used daily.” This question was used as the dependent variable because use within the last 30 days is a reflection of current/regular use. In addition, to analyze each of the individual drugs, 2 aggregate variables
Am J Health Behav.™ 2014;38(6):951-962
DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.38.6.17
953
Substance Use of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Heterosexual College Students
Table 1 Demographic Characteristics of Heterosexual, Gay/Lesbian, and Bisexual College Students Sexual Orientation
Sex Race / Ethnicity
Year in School
Total %( N)
Hetero % (N)
Gay/Lesbian % (N)
Bisexual % (N)
p
Female
65.8(42986)
66.0(40869)
41.7(538)
76.9(1579)
I
n general, lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adolescents and young adults have higher rates of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use and misuse when compared to their heterosexual counterparts.1-6 Use of ATOD is especially common among LGB college students7-12 who experience more negative alcohol use consequences than heterosexuals.10,11 In addition, ATOD use is associated with many health risk behaviors and problems among LGB youth.8,11-14 Sexual minority youth experience higher rates of depression, suicide ideation and attempts,1,14-19 violence, victimization, personal safety issues,1,11,13,20 and higher rates of unprotected sexual behaviors1,8,21,22 than heterosexual youth. These health risk behaviors are often attributed to “gayrelated”23 or “minority stress”24 that may exacerbate ATOD use among LGB individuals. Despite these health problems and their association with ATOD use and misuse, there is a dearth of large studies on substance use among LGB young adults, and the college LGB sub-group in particular. College is a time of emancipation from parents and adjustment to a new environment and social scene where ATOD use is common and often encouraged by peers. LGB college students, in particular, may experience an unwelcoming or hostile Dianne L. Kerr, Associate Professor, Kele Ding, Associate Professor, and Julie Chaya, Doctoral Research Assistant, Health Education and Promotion, School of Health Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH. Correspondence Dr Kerr; [email protected]
Am J Health Behav.™ 2014;38(6):951-962
of use. LGB students had more serious consequences due to alcohol use. Conclusions: ATOD use among LGB students was more prevalent than heterosexuals during the past 30 days, year, and lifetime. LGB students report more negative alcohol consequences. Key words: alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (ATOD); Lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB); sexual minorities; college students Am J Health Behav. 2014;38(6):951-962 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.38.6.17
college environment. A recent national college climate survey of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students, faculty, and staff determined LGBQ respondents were significantly more likely to experience harassment when compared with heterosexual respondents and were 7 times more likely to indicate the harassment was based on their sexual identity. In addition, LGBQ respondents were more likely to perceive or observe harassment on campus and indicate this harassment was based on sexual identity when compared with heterosexual respondents.25 Experiencing or observing incivility or harassment on college campuses has been associated with alcohol and drug use among sexual minority students.13 Much of the research that is available on college youth combines lesbian and bisexual women together and gay and bisexual men together to increase the sample size for analysis purposes. The Institute of Medicine advises against this practice and recommends that these groups be studied separately.26 Previous research on LGB college students is summarized in the following sections. Lesbian/Bisexual vs. Heterosexual College Women Bisexual college women are significantly more likely to use tobacco, binge drink, and use marijuana than heterosexual women.27 Lesbian and bisexual women (combined) are more likely to use tobacco, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, downers, tranquilizers, amphetamines, and psychedelics in the past year when compared to heterosexual
951
Substance Use of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Heterosexual College Students undergraduate women.10 A single campus study revealed alcohol use did not differ among lesbians, bisexuals, and heterosexual women, but lesbian and bisexual (LB) women were more likely to smoke cigarettes, use marijuana, ecstasy, and other drugs, and suffer more alcohol-related consequences than heterosexual women.10 Similarly, Ford and Jasinski9 found bisexual women more likely to use marijuana and other illicit drugs. In a study that addressed 3 measures of sexual orientation (attraction, behavior, and identity), women who described themselves as being more attracted to women had higher rates of smoking, using opioid analgesics (eg, Vicodin, Oxycontin, Tylenol with codeine), and using marijuana than heterosexual women. In contrast, women who reported they had sex with only women did not differ from the group that had sex with only men.28 Research that investigates illicit drug use has found lesbian and bisexual women more likely to report use of certain drugs in particular. Parsons, Kelly, and Wells29 studied club drug using women and found LB females more likely to use LSD, ecstasy, cocaine, and methamphetamines and to use club drugs at a greater rate than heterosexual women. Ecstasy was the most commonly used club drug among the LB women. Lesbians and bisexual women were combined for analysis purposes, however, which may have masked differences between the 2 groups. Research that investigates lesbians and bisexual women separately consistently has shown bisexual women are more likely to use ATOD than lesbians, and have higher rates of ATOD use than any other subgroup of the LGB spectrum.9,27,30 Gay/Bisexual and Heterosexual College Men Research indicates gay male college students have lower rates of binge drinking than their heterosexual counterparts but higher rates for use of certain other drugs.8,10,28,30 McCabe et al10 found gay and bisexual (GB) men more than twice as likely to use marijuana in the past year and more than 6 times as likely to have used ecstasy before college. In contrast, other research with college populations has determined no differences among gay, bisexual, and heterosexual men in marijuana use.9,27 A study of college students from 10 universities in North Carolina compared men who self-identified as gay to heterosexual men. Investigators found gay men were more likely to report a lifetime history of illicit drug use but no more likely to report using illicit drugs in the past 30 days when compared to heterosexual college men. Only 43 men (4.2%) in the study self-identified as gay, however, which limited the researchers’ ability to determine differences.31 Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare selfidentified LGB undergraduate students to their heterosexual peers and to each other on a number
952
of ATOD measures and alcohol use consequences. A pre-existing data set was used to compare these undergraduates (N = 65,281). Research Questions 1. Do lesbian, gay, and bisexual students differ from heterosexual students in alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use in the past 30 days? 2. Do lesbian, gay, and bisexual students differ from heterosexual students in lifetime or ever use of ATOD? 3. Do lesbian, gay, and bisexual students differ from heterosexual students in nonmedical use of prescription medications in the past year? Hypotheses 1. LGB students will report higher prevalence and have greater odds of using alcohol, tobacco and other drugs in the past 30 days than heterosexual students. 2. LGB students will report higher prevalence and have greater odds of using ATOD in their lifetimes than heterosexual students. 3. LGB students will report higher prevalence and greater odds of nonmedical use of prescription medications in the past year as compared to heterosexual students. METHODS Three semesters of data (Fall semesters 20092011) from the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHANCHA-II) were requested for the study.32 Institutions participating in the ACHA-NCHA-II included 57 in Fall 2009 (N = 34,208), 39 in Fall 2010 (N = 30,093), and 44 in Fall 2011 (N = 27,774).33 Most surveys were collected from the south (36.2%) and the least from the Midwest (9.8%). The majority of these were public institutions (65.1%) and 4-year colleges (92.8%). In addition, 72.5% of the universities were located in an area with a population size of 50,000 or less, 52% had 10,000 or more students, 81% were listed as master’s degree-granting or higher in the Carnegie classification system, 53% were classified as research institutions, and nearly 94% were American College Health Association member institutions. In terms of diversity, 4.4% were postsecondary minority institutions, 2.8% were historically black colleges or universities, 2% were high Hispanic enrollment institutions and 1.6% were native Hawaiian serving institutions. Three semesters of data were used to assure large numbers of lesbian/gay and bisexual students were included in the sample. This enabled separate analyses to be conducted on each sexual orientation group. Sample Selection from Pre-existing Data The ACHA-NCHA II sample is a convenience nonprobability sample without sample weighting. We limited our analysis to undergraduate students (ages 18-25) who self-identified as heterosexual,
Kerr et al gay/lesbian, and bisexual from these 3 semesters. Graduate students and international students were excluded, as were students that self-identified as “unsure” (N = 1491, 1.7%) on the sexual orientation question. Such exclusion minimizes the variation of study participants and enhances the comparability across sexual orientations. The final sample included 42,986 women and 22,295 men. Of the women, 40,869 self-identified as heterosexual (95%), 1579 as bisexual (3.7%) and 538 as lesbian (1.3%); among the men, 21,071 self-identified as heterosexual (94.5%), 751 as gay (3.4%) and 471 as bisexual (2.1%). The total number of participants was 65,281. Instrumentation The initial data were collected with the ACHANCHA-II. The data, according to ACHA, serves as a “reference group” and a “set of schools with which one can compare data” which “appears to be valid and reliable in representing the nation’s college students.”34 The survey was developed by an interdisciplinary team of college health professionals, pilot-tested, and compared to national surveys such as the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey.34 For the original dataset provided to us, a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of .887 was found for the 26 drug questions on drug (ever use) for the total sample, and among those that used at least one drug, an alpha of .872, indicating a high level of internal consistency. For the 19 drug questions that measured monthly use, the Cronbach’s alpha was .754 for all participants, and .712 for those who had used at least one of the drugs monthly. Two separate Cronbach’s alphas were calculated because those in the total sample that reported no drug use each time would inflate the reliability score. The ACHA-NCHA-II has been administered since Fall 2008. In developing the revised 2008 instrument, some of the initial ACHA-NCHA questions were modified and new questions were added pertinent to the present study. These included updated lists of illegal drugs, and the use of non-prescribed prescription drugs. The term “nonmedical use of prescription medication (NUPM)” is used to refer to student use of prescription drugs not prescribed to them.
only undergraduate students who self-identified as heterosexual, gay/lesbian, or bisexual in terms of sexual identity. The sexual identity measure was used because no data were available on sexual attraction in the pre-existing data set, and although there was a behavior question that asked whether subjects had sex with men, women, or both, it was determined by the investigators that those who may report same sex sexual behavior during young adulthood may be experimenting or be “bicurious” and classifying them as gay or bisexual may over-represent the sexual minorities in this sample. Therefore, to determine sexual orientation, the NCHA-II question #48 “What is your sexual orientation?” was used with response options of “Heterosexual,” “Gay/lesbian,” “Bisexual,” and “Unsure.” “Unsure” responses were not included in the current analysis. The student’s self-reported sexual orientation was used throughout the data analysis process. Additional demographic questions included in the present study were question #47 “Gender,” question #51 “Year in school,” question #54 “Race/ ethnicity,” question #57 “Relationship status,” and question #58 “Place of residence.” Information provided by the dataset such as region of the country (Northeast, Midwest, South, or West) and school identification number were also used in data analysis. Table 1 contains details concerning the demographic variables. The sex variable was analyzed to differentiate drug use and drinking consequences between men and women. Race, grade level, relationship status, and place of residence were used as covariates in the data analysis, whereas regional and school identifiers also were used as control variables. The ATOD measures that were included were questions #8, #16 and #18. Question #8 read as follows: Within the last 30 days, on how many days did you use: Cigarettes; Tobacco from a water pipe (hookah); Cigars, little cigars, clove cigarettes; smokeless tobacco; Alcohol (beer, wine, liquor); Marijuana (pot, weed, hashish, hash oil); Cocaine (crack, rock, freebase); Methamphetamine (crystal meth, ice, crank); Other amphetamines (diet pills, bennies); Sedatives (downers, ludes); Hallucinogens (LSD, PCP); Anabolic Steroids (Testosterone); Opiates (heroin, smack); Inhalants (glue, solvents, gas); MDMA (Ecstasy); Other club drugs (GHB, Ketamine, Rohypnol); Other Illegal Drugs.
Variables/Measures Overall, 3 types of variables were retrieved from the original dataset for the purposes of the data analysis process. They included sexual orientation and other demographic information, ATOD use including NUPM, and consequences of alcohol use. The measurement of sexual orientation is a complex issue in LGBT research. Although sexual orientation is a combination of sexual attraction, sexual behavior, and sexual identity,35 researchers typically do not include all 3 of these components on survey instruments. For the purposes of this study, the investigators desired to investigate
Response options for each included: “Never used,” “Have used, but not in last 30 days,” “1-2 days,” “3-5 days,” “6-9 days,” “10-19 days,” “20-29 days,” or “Used daily.” This question was used as the dependent variable because use within the last 30 days is a reflection of current/regular use. In addition, to analyze each of the individual drugs, 2 aggregate variables
Am J Health Behav.™ 2014;38(6):951-962
DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.38.6.17
953
Substance Use of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Heterosexual College Students
Table 1 Demographic Characteristics of Heterosexual, Gay/Lesbian, and Bisexual College Students Sexual Orientation
Sex Race / Ethnicity
Year in School
Total %( N)
Hetero % (N)
Gay/Lesbian % (N)
Bisexual % (N)
p
Female
65.8(42986)
66.0(40869)
41.7(538)
76.9(1579)
