Sexual Orientation Questions in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH): 2015 Data Results

• Activity Number: 163 - Issues in LGBT Discrimination
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, July 31, 2017 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: ASA LGBT Concerns Committee
• Author(s): Grace E. Medley* and Rachel Lipari and Jonaki Bose and Struther Van Horn and Devon S Cribb and Larry A Kroutil and Gretchen McHenry
• Companies: SAMHSA/ HHS and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Kent State University and RTI International and RTI International and RTI International
• Keywords: Sexual attraction questions ; sexual identity questions ; NSDUH ; behavioral health

Abstract

Research suggests that sexual minorities (e.g., people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual) are at greater risk for substance use and mental health issues compared with the sexual majority population that identifies as being heterosexual. Although sexual orientation is not a new construct, many federally funded surveys have only recently begun to identify sexual minorities in their data collections. In 2015, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) added two questions on sexual orientation, one for sexual identity and one for sexual attraction, making it the first nationally representative, comprehensive source of federally collected information on substance use and mental health issues among sexual minority adults. These findings show that sexual minorities were more likely than their sexual majority counterparts to have substance use and mental health issues. The greater likelihood of sexual minority adults to have substance use and mental health issues compared with their sexual majority counterparts was observed across subgroups of adults defined by sex and by age group.