Friendship, Gender, and Sexuality: Addressing Substance Use Disparities in Young Adults

• In Event: Friendship Networks and Delinquency in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood, Session 1: Peers and Persistence

Abstract

Sexual minorities experience elevated rates of substance use and misuse compared to heterosexual individuals. However, the impact of friendship stability on these patterns during the transition to adulthood remains understudied. Non-heterosexual adolescents experience less stable friendships, lower social integration, and higher social isolation than their heterosexual peers. Furthermore, substance use within sexual minority populations varies significantly across gender and sexual orientation identities, with non-heterosexual women at heightened risk. This complex interplay suggests potential differences in how friendship stability during the transition to adulthood affects levels of substance use between sexual minorities and heterosexuals. Using the longitudinal PROSPER study of adolescent peer networks, we investigate post-high school friendship stability among sexual minorities compared to heterosexual peers. We also assess whether differences in friendship stability contribute to disparities in substance use and misuse within sexual minority populations.

Authors

• Nayan G. Ramirez, California State University, Northridge

• Cassie McMillan, Northeastern University

• Wade C. Jacobsen, University of Maryland