School of Psychology and Counselling, and Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Australian Centre for Public and Population Health Research, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, New South Wales, Australia.
PLoS One. 2018 Sep 27;13(9):e0204730. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204730. eCollection 2018.
Sexual minority young people use licit and illicit substances at disproportionate levels. However, little is known about the perceptions of substance use among members of LGBT communities. This paper reports the results of a content analysis of 45 semi-structured interviews about substance use in LGBT communities with sexual minority young people (n = 31) and community stakeholders (n = 14). Results indicated both sexual minority youth and community stakeholders perceived the use and acceptance of substances to be higher in LGBT communities compared to the general population. Participants identified a range of characteristics potentially leading to higher levels of substance use including peer pressure, high exposure to substance use, and the high concentrations of licensed venues in LGBT communities. Marginalisation, discrimination and mental health were also perceived as important reasons for these disparities. Community stakeholders identified a range of potential interventions including legislation to address discrimination and substance use, increased services and activities, advertising in commercial LGBT venues and social media, and reinvigorating community cohesion.
性少数派年轻人过度使用合法和非法物质。然而，对于 LGBT 群体成员对物质使用的看法，我们知之甚少。本文报告了对 45 份关于 LGBT 群体中性少数派年轻人（n=31）和社区利益相关者（n=14）关于物质使用的半结构化访谈的内容分析的结果。结果表明，与一般人群相比，性少数派青年和社区利益相关者都认为 LGBT 群体中物质的使用和接受程度更高。参与者确定了一系列可能导致更高水平物质使用的特征，包括同伴压力、高暴露于物质使用、以及 LGBT 社区中持牌场所的高度集中。边缘化、歧视和心理健康也被认为是造成这些差异的重要原因。社区利益相关者确定了一系列潜在的干预措施，包括解决歧视和物质使用的立法、增加服务和活动、在商业 LGBT 场所和社交媒体上做广告，以及重新激发社区凝聚力。
