Young adults who are gay or bisexual are more likely to smoke or consume alcohol as compared to heterosexual individuals of the same age group.
Even though many societies have started accepting gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals, researchers of a new study found that such people still feel the pressure to fit into society. This could be one of the reasons why a new study conducted by researchers from a group of 5 UK universities found that such individuals are more likely to smoke or consume alcohol as compared to heterosexual individuals of the same age group.
"Our research shows that despite recent social change, young people today who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual are twice as likely to have smoked as their heterosexual peers," Lead researcher Dr Gareth Hagger-Johnson, from the UCL Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, said in a press release. "Gay and lesbian young people also appear to have more frequent and more hazardous alcohol drinking patterns than heterosexuals. Smoking and drinking alcohol frequently and hazardously can lead to chronic disease in later life, and so we should be worried about these health inequalities in this minority group and the longer term consequences they may face."
For the study, researchers looked at the data of 7,600 participants collected from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England. During the time of entry, all participants were aged 13 or 14 years. The study followed their developments over the years till they were 18 or 19 years old. During the five years, they were asked about their cigarette smoking and alcohol use habits. At the end of the study, all individuals were asked about their sexual orientation.
Researchers noted that individuals who identified themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, which made up for 3.5 percent of all participants, were twice as likely to smoke or drink compared to the rest of the participants.
"From a public health perspective, we need to understand why young gay, lesbian and bisexual people are more likely to engage in risky health behaviors than their heterosexual peers," concluded Dr Hagger-Johnson. "This will need to involve longitudinal research, following a large sample of lesbian, gay and bisexual young people over time. We are concerned that 'minority stress', resulting from homophobia and heterosexism, might lead people to self-medicate symptoms of anxiety and depression with cigarettes and alcohol."
