The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #41374

S. Bryn Austin, ScD¹, Najat Ziyadeh, MPH¹, Laurie B. Fisher, SM², Jessica A. Kahn, MD, MPH¹, Graham Colditz, MD DrPH³, and Lindsay Frazier, MD MSc². (1) Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, JB-335, Boston, MA 02115, 617-355-8194, bryn.austin@tch.harvard.edu, (2) Channing Laboratory, Harvard Medical School, Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, (3) Department of Epidemiology, Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge-815, Boston, MA 02115

Background: No national studies have explored the role of psychosocial factors to explain differences in tobacco use across sexual orientation groups in adolescents. Methods: Survey data from 12,224 adolescent girls and boys participating in 1999 in the Growing Up Today Study, a national longitudinal cohort study, were examined cross-sectionally using univariate descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analyses. Results: 92% of subjects described themselves as heterosexual (n=9,296), 6% as mostly heterosexual (n=511), 1% as gay/bisexual (n=103), 2% as unsure (n=226). Subjects were 12 to 17 years old. Gay/bisexuals and mostly heterosexuals reported greater tobacco use than heterosexuals, even when controlling for age, pubertal stage, depressive symptoms, self-esteem, BMI, and region of residence in multivariate models. Gay/bisexual girls were 6.6 (95% CI: 3.6, 12.4) times more likely and mostly heterosexual girls were 2.3 (95% CI: 1.8, 2.9) times more likely than heterosexual girls to have ever smoked. Among girls who reported smoking in the past year, gay/bisexual girls had 4.2 times (95% CI=1.6, 10.8) the odds of smoking weekly compared to heterosexual girls, and gay/bisexual girls and mostly heterosexual girls were more highly addicted to tobacco (p<.05). Gay/bisexual boys were 2.1 (95% CI: 1.1, 4.3) times more likely and mostly heterosexual boys were 2.0 (95% CI: 1.3, 3.0) times more likely than heterosexual boys to have ever smoked. Conclusions: These results indicate that sexual orientation group differences in tobacco use and addiction persist even when accounting for effects of multiple factors previously thought to explain differences in tobacco use.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to

• Describe the current evidence documenting sexual orientation group differences in tobacco use in adolescent girls and boys.
• Describe the findings of the Growing Up Today Study regarding sexual orientation group differences in tobacco use and the role underlying mechanisms that may contribute to these differences.
• Identify areas in need of more intensive research to explain sexual orientation group differences in tobacco use that may eventually inform more effective tobacco use prevention programs for these youth.

Keywords: Adolescent Health, Tobacco Control

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.