ArticleJournal of studies on alcohol and drugs2012
Do substance use norms and perceived drug availability mediate sexual orientation differences in patterns of substance use? Results from the California Quality of Life Survey II.
Article in Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
63 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 115 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sexual orientation concealment and mental health: A conceptual and meta-analytic review.Psychological bulletin · 2020Pooled it
- Substance Use and Relationship Functioning Among Young Male Couples.Archives of sexual behavior · 2023Trial
- The Protective Role of Collective Efficacy Against Illicit Drug Availability at the Street Level: A Longitudinal Analysis.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2026Article
- Identifying dominant factors that impact hazardous alcohol use among sexual and gender minority groups.Addictive behaviors reports · 2026Article
- Perceived Availability of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide in the United States from 2015 to 2019.Psychedelic medicine (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Formative Research to Identify Contributors to Risky Drinking and Adapt an Alcohol Reduction Intervention Among Young Adults Vulnerable to HIV: Qualitative Focus Group Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Observing Types and Successes of Alcohol Cessation Attempts Among Young Sexual and Gender Minority People Assigned Male at Birth in The RADAR Cohort Study.Psychology of sexual orientation and gender diversity · 2025Article
- The intersection of cannabis use and oral health among 2SLGBTQI+ youth: a qualitative study protocol.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Using a Sober Curious Framework to Explore Barriers and Facilitators to Helping Sexual Minority Women Reduce Alcohol-Related Harms: Protocol for a Descriptive Study.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Article
- Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Cannabis by Sexual Identity, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender: A Nationwide Analysis Using the 2016 to 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.Substance use & addiction journal · 2025Article
- COVID-19 Concerns, Coping and Perceived Peer Norms: Correlates of Increased Alcohol and Marijuana Use Among Sexual Minority Women.Journal of homosexuality · 2024Article
- Problematic alcohol use among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in Canada: the role of proximal stressors and anxiety.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2024Article
- Sexual and Gender Identity Disparities in Nicotine and Tobacco Use Susceptibility and Prevalence: Disaggregating Emerging Identities Among Adolescents From California, USA.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2024Article
- Bi+ Men's Explanations for Substance Use Disparities in Their Community.Journal of bisexuality · 2024Article
- The Differential Role of Perceived Same-Gender and Gender-Neutral Norms in Emerging Adult Risk Behavior.Substance use & misuse · 2024Article
- The American Dream: Is Immigration Associated with Life Satisfaction for Latinos of Mexican Descent?Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Structural stigma and alcohol use among sexual and gender minority adults: A systematic review.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2023Article
- Does sexuality matter? A cross-sectional study of drug use, social injecting, and access to injection-specific care among men who inject drugs in Melbourne, Australia.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Possible role of caffeine in nicotine use onset among early adolescents: Evidence from the Young Mountaineer Health Study Cohort.PloS one · 2023Article
3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveIllicit drug and heavy alcohol use is more common among sexual minorities compared with heterosexuals. This difference has sometimes been attributed to more tolerant substance use norms within the gay community, although evidence is sparse. The current study investigated the role of perceived drug availability and tolerant injunctive norms in mediating the linkage between minority sexual orientation status and higher rates of prior-year substance use.
methodWe used data from the second California Quality of Life Survey (Cal-QOL II), a followback telephone survey in 2008-2009 of individuals first interviewed in the population-based 2007 California Health Interview Survey. The sample comprised 2,671 individuals, oversampled for minority sexual orientation. Respondents were administered a structured interview assessing past-year alcohol and illicit drug use, perceptions of perceived illicit drug availability, and injunctive norms concerning illicit drug and heavier alcohol use. We used structural equation modeling methods to test a mediational model linking sexual orientation and substance use behaviors via perceptions of drug availability and social norms pertaining to substance use.
resultsCompared with heterosexual individuals, sexual minorities reported higher levels of substance use, perceived drug availability, and tolerant social norms. A successfully fitting model suggests that much of the association between minority sexual orientation and substance use is mediated by these sexual orientation-related differences in drug availability perceptions and tolerant norms for substance use.
conclusionsSocial environmental context, including subcultural norms and perceived drug availability, is an important factor influencing substance use among sexual minorities and should be addressed in community interventions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.