Abstract
Illegal substance use in sexual minorities is an important health issue worldwide. The present cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the multi-dimensional factors associated with illegal substance use among gay and bisexual men in Taiwan. This questionnaire-survey study recruited 500 gay or bisexual men aged between 20 and 25 years. Their experiences of using eight kinds of illegal substances in the preceding month were collected. Their previous experiences of homophobic bullying, satisfaction with academic performance, truancy, perceived family and peer support in childhood and adolescence, and social-demographic characteristics, were also collected. Potential factors associated with illegal substance use were identified using univariate logistic regression, and further selected into a forward stepwise logistic regression model to identify the factors most significantly related to illegal substance use. A total of 22 (4.4%) participants reported illegal substance use in the preceding month, and mean age was 22.9 ± 1.6. Forward stepwise logistic regression revealed that being victims of homophobic cyberbullying in childhood and adolescence (odds ratio (OR) = 1.26; p = 0.011), disclosure of sexual orientation at junior high school (OR = 4.67; p = 0.001), and missing classes or truancy in senior high school (OR = 2.52; p = 0.041) were significantly associated with illegal substance use in early adulthood. Multi-dimensional factors in childhood and adolescence that were significantly associated with illegal substance use in early adulthood among gay and bisexual men were identified. Besides traditional bullying, the effect of cyberbullying and school performance on illegal substance use should not be ignored. This study is limited to the cross-sectional design and possible recall bias. Mental health professionals must routinely assess these significant factors to prevent and intervene in illegal substance use among gay and bisexual men.
Highlights
The present study reports that 4.4% of gay and bisexual men used illegal substances in the preceding month, and that multi-dimensional factors were associated with illegal substance use among gay and bisexual men, including homophobic cyberbullying victimization in childhood and adolescence, disclosure of sexual orientation at junior high school, and missing classes or truancy in senior high school
The present study found that disclosure of sexual orientation at junior high school was significantly associated with illegal substance use in early adulthood
The present study found that missing classes or truancy in senior high school was significantly associated with illegal substance use in early adulthood
Summary
Substance use has become a major public health concern. 2.75 hundred million people have used illegal drugs at least once, which comprises 5.6% of the general population aged between 15 and 64 years [1]. 31 million people have been diagnosed with substance use disorder. Substance use often results in socio-economical and health burdens, including domestic violence [2,3], increased crime rates [4], suicide [5], comorbidity with mental illnesses [6], and comorbidity with physical illnesses, such as blood-borne disease [7].
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