Research on whether disclosure of sexual orientation promotes lower substance use among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals has been inconsistent. One reason for this may be that disclosure results in accepting and rejecting reactions. The current report longitudinally examines whether the types of reactions to disclosure are associated with substance use and abuse among an ethnically diverse, urban sample of 156 LGB youths (ages 14 -21 years). Neither the number of disclosures nor the numbers of accepting or neutral disclosure reactions experienced were associated with substance use or abuse. However, the number of rejecting reactions to disclosure was associated with current and subsequent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use even after controlling for demographic factors, social desirability, and emotional distress. Further, high numbers of accepting reactions were found to moderate or protect youths from the negative role of rejecting reactions on alcohol use, but not other substances. This research indicates that, rather than disclosure per se, it is the number of accepting and rejecting reactions in response to disclosure that are critical to understanding substance use among LGB youths. Further, the results suggest that to be maximally effective in helping LGB youths, substance use prevention and treatment efforts should address the rejecting reactions to disclosure of sexual orientation.
KeywordsAlcohol; Cigarette; Marijuana; Self-Disclosure; Rejection; Acceptance; Sexual Orientation; Sexual Identity; Longitudinal Extensive research using large representative samples has examined the potential role of sexual orientation as a risk factor for substance use and abuse among adolescents and young adults Address correspondence to Margaret Rosario, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, The City University of New York -City College and Graduate Center, NAC Building 7-120, Convent Avenue and 138 th Street, New York, NY 10031; mrosario@gc.cuny.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: The following manuscript is the final accepted manuscript. It has not been subjected to the final copyediting, fact-checking, and proofreading required for formal publication. It is not the definitive, publisher-authenticated version. The American Psychological Association and its Council of Editors disclaim any responsibility or liabilities for errors or omissions of this manuscript version, any version derived from this manuscript by NIH, or other third parties. The published version is available at www.apa.org/journals/adb NIH Public Access e.g., Bontempo & D'Augelli, 2002;Eisenberg & Wechsler, 2003a;Russell, Driscoll, & Truong, 2002). A recent meta-analysis of this research concludes that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youths are significantly more likely to report alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use than are heterosexual youths (Marshal et al., 2008). The meta-analysis also finds that the higher risk among LGB youths occurs among both sexes and regardless of definition of sexual orientation (e.g., self-identification as LGB...