Examining Disparities in Excessive Alcohol Use Among Black and Hispanic Lesbian and Bisexual Women in the United States: An Intersectional Analysis

Intersectional effects of sexual orientation and racial/ethnic discrimination on substance use among young adult sexual minority cisgender women and nonbinary people of color: Testing additive, prominence, and multiplicative hypotheses.

“…This may further contribute to elevated rates of substance use disorders among Black sexual minority women. The elevated rates of substance use disorders among sexual minority women of color compared to White sexual minority women and the absence of such racial differences among sexual minority men (N. Greene et al, 2020; Schuler et al, 2020) are consistent with the added burden of risk factors experiences by sexual minority women of color.…”

“…Recent evidence suggests that disparities in substance use between sexual minority and heterosexual populations differ by gender and race/ethnicity. Utilizing nationally representative data from the National Study on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), N. Greene et al (2020) and Schuler et al (2020) demonstrated that Black and Latina sexual minority women experienced larger disparities (relative to heterosexual women of the same race/ethnicity) than those experienced by White sexual minority women 1 .…”

“…Existing studies have also been limited by their predominate focus on internalizing symptoms and their reliance on cross-sectional study designs. Few studies have examined the effects of sexual orientation and racial/ethnic discrimination on substance use, despite elevated disparities in substance use affecting sexual minority women of color compared to White sexual minority women (N. Greene et al, 2020; Mereish & Bradford, 2014; Schuler et al, 2020).…”

“…Recent evidence suggests that disparities in substance use between sexual minority and heterosexual populations differ by gender and race/ethnicity. Utilizing nationally representative data from the National Study on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), N. Greene et al (2020) and Schuler et al (2020) demonstrated that Black and Latina sexual minority women experienced larger disparities (relative to heterosexual women of the same race/ethnicity) than those experienced by White sexual minority women. 1 For example, White bisexual women were 1.23 times more likely to engage in heavy episodic drinking compared to White heterosexual women, while Black and Latina sexual minority women were at 1.56 and 1.68 times elevated risk for heavy episodic drinking compared to heterosexual women who shared their race/ethnicity (Schuler et al, 2020).…”

“…Sexual minority individuals (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and other nonheterosexual individuals) are at elevated risk for alcohol and cannabis use disorders compared to heterosexual individuals (Dyar, 2022;Kerridge et al, 2017). Studies suggest that these disparities are more elevated among sexual minority women of color than among White sexual minority women, although sexual minority men of color do not appear to be at elevated risk compared to White sexual minority men (N. Greene et al, 2020;Mereish & Bradford, 2014;Schuler et al, 2020). Intersectionality theory posits that elevated disparities in substance use affecting sexual minority women of color arise from experiencing stigma and oppression based on their gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation (Bowleg et al, 2003;Crenshaw, 2001;B.…”