Differences by sex and gender in the association between minority stress and alcohol use among sexual and gender minority youth: A daily diary study

Abstract

RationaleSexual and gender minority (SGM) youth consume more alcohol than their heterosexual, cisgender peers. The experience of minority stress is theorized to explain these disparities. Research often neglects the day-to-day variability in minority stress that SGM youth encounter and whether alcohol use is associated with daily experiences of minority stress. Further, there is heterogeneity in alcohol use among SGM youth. Sex assigned at birth and gender identity could potentially explain this heterogeneity. ObjectiveTherefore, this study aimed to examine whether daily experiences of minority stress were associated with daily alcohol use among SGM youth and how these associations differed by sex assigned at birth and gender identity. MethodsA 14-day daily diary study was conducted among 393 Dutch SGM youth (M age = 18.36 SD = 2.65). ResultsResults showed few significant associations between both mean levels of minority stress and daily experiences with minority stress with alcohol use. However, higher mean levels of prejudice events were associated with higher odds of daily alcohol use (OR = 7.01, 95% CI: 1.20–40.89). Daily experiences with identity concealment were associated with lower odds of daily alcohol use for males (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.60–0.86), but not for females (OR = 1.11, 95% CI: 0.93–1.32). Further, for cisgender youth, daily experiences with prejudice events were associated with higher odds of alcohol use (OR = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.05–3.78), but this was not the case for gender minority youth (OR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.15–1.18). ConclusionsThe findings showed few significant associations between minority stressors and alcohol use, but daily experiences of concealment and prejudice events were associated with daily alcohol use and these associations varied by sex assigned at birth and gender identity, respectively.