Social safety as a novel mechanism of risk for problematic substance use among sexual and gender minority youth

Univ Of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC

Investigators

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth are at higher risk for problematic substance use compared to non- SGM youth. This disparity persists into adulthood, when SGM adults experience a disproportionately higher rate of substance use and disorder. Though such disparities are well established, few studies have examined social determinants that may explain variation in substance use risk within SGM youth. Minority Stress Theory suggests that variation in risk for substance use is due to individual differences in exposure to minority stress (e.g., discrimination). Social safety (feelings of social inclusion and acceptance) may be a key mechanism underlying the link between minority stress with substance use. Extant theory and research suggest that heightened experiences of minority stress have a negative impact on social safety, indicated by chronic threat vigilance. The proposed study seeks to investigate social safety as a mechanism explaining the heightened rates of problematic substance use among SGM youth. Furthermore, this study investigates the impact of protective factors that may disrupt this pathway and reduce substance use risk among SGM youth. Identification of social safety mechanisms, as well as associated protective factors, can inform the development of school-based programs, social services, and policies designed to specifically address social safety as a protective factor against risk for substance use among SGM youth. With this NRSA F31 proposal, the applicant seeks training to pursue a career as an independent clinical research scientist focused on prevention of problematic substance use among SGM youth. Training goals address gaps in her current doctoral program and include acquiring knowledge about theories, mechanisms, and methods for studying developmental pathways for youth substance use and SGM disparities more specifically; expertise in advanced longitudinal and integrative data analysis; and skills related to scientific writing and dissemination. These skills will be applied to conduct a study examining within-SGM population heterogeneity and timing of risk for substance use during youth development. Three aims will be investigated through integrated data analysis of two seven-wave studies of SGM youth using an accelerated longitudinal cohort design to capture development from ages 16 to 24. Data will be harmonized and pooled to meet psychometric standards before analyses. Specific aims are to examine whether: 1) SGM youth with greater minority stress in adolescence show greater decrements in social safety and, in turn, greater increments in problematic substance use into young adulthood as compared to those with less minority stress, 2) for any given SGM youth, individual periods of increased problematic substance use coincide with periods of greater minority stress and decrements in social safety, and, 3) protective factors reduce risk of problematic substance use associated with decrements in social safety across time and in period-specific elevations among SGM youth.