Chronic Stress Leads Lesbian and Gay Teens to Binge Drink

Chronic stress is to be blamed for the higher rate of binge drinking among lesbian and gay adolescents, a new study reveals.

Binge drinking or heavy episodic drinking is unhealthy and harmful for both mind and body. This study says that the reason for heavy episodic drinking among homosexuals is mainly due to  stress.

The study says that the chronic stress is due to rejection, harassment, discrimination, suppression of sexual orientation, negative attitude toward homosexuality i.e. internalized homophobia and other negative attitudes that trigger poor health.

In this study the researchers determined if minority stress theory helps explaining why gay and lesbian adolescents take to binge drinking. For this, they examined the responses of 1,232 youths of ages 12-18.

The study subjects participated in an online survey that was conducted by OutProud: The National Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth. Among the total participants 16 percent identified themselves as lesbians and nearly 84 percent declared themselves as gay males.

The survey involved questions about sexual minority experiences they witnessed and also included other 260 variables.

The researchers noticed that among homosexual adolescents, higher psychological distress was reported if the participant faced violence or victimization and if they faced internalized homophobia or concealment of sexual orientation.

"Although other studies of adolescents commonly report on sexuality or sexual identity, these general population studies do not typically assess nuanced experiences of stress among sexual minority adolescents," said lead author Sheree M. Schrager, PhD, MS, director of research in the Division of Hospital Medicine at the Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

One of the strong predictor of heavy episodic drinking was internalized homophobia.  On the other hand, violence and victimization was marginally related to intake of large amount of alcohol in short duration.  Adolescents residing with parents were less likely to binge drink.

Individuals who remained connected to gay communities were more likely to indulge in binge drinking. 

"Given that interventions are more effective when they are developed to match the cultural experiences of participants, theoretically grounded studies like this one can potentially lead to tailored treatment approaches based on the unique experiences of lesbian and gay adolescents," Dr. Schrager said.

Findings of the study "The Application of Minority Stress Theory to Binge Drinking Among Lesbian and Gay Adolescents" will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.