Original articleSubstance Use Among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Sexual Minority Adolescents: Findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health
Section snippets
Dual minority complex faced by AAPI adolescents
Chan, discussing sexual orientation among AAPIs, describes key issues regarding social stigma and terminology [6]. These issues are relevant to the present study’s examination of sexual orientation among AAPIs because they explain the social context in which such research occurs. AAPI persons who do not adhere to strict heterosexual practices face severe social sanctions from their community [6], [7].
For this study we use the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) data [8]
Survey design
Data were abstracted from a subsample of Add Health [8] Add Health is comprised of three sets of data: Wave I (1994–1995), Wave II (1995–1996), and Wave III (2001–2002). The present analysis used interview data from Waves II and III. Within the core sample, in-home interviews were conducted in 1995 with 20,745 adolescents and their parents and siblings. Within these core samples, 12,105 participated in Wave I in-home interviews (75% response rate). Wave II surveys were completed by 9278 (77%)
Results
Table 1 summarizes the demographic characteristics of the sample in Wave III. Approximately 8.7% (n = 102) of our total sample self-identified as sexual minorities, of which 12% (n = 53) were young women and 6% (n = 49) young men. Of those identifying as sexual minorities, 49% were young women, and 53% were young men.
Discussion
This study yielded two principal findings concerning the relationship between being a sexual minority and the likelihood of substance use, which are discussed below.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge Chris Adkins for his valuable comments and suggestions for this paper. This research uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, The study was funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123
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