title: Associations among sexual attraction status, school belonging, and alcohol and marijuana use in rural high school students.
abstract: Analysis of data collected from 1725 9th graders from 25 rural high schools revealed that students reporting same-sex attraction or uncertainty about their attraction status also reported significantly lower GPAs, lower school belonging, and higher marijuana and alcohol use. Regression analyses confirmed that beyond the effects of GPA and biological sex, sexual minority attraction status was negatively associated with school belonging. Further, while higher school belonging significantly decreased the odds of alcohol and marijuana use, sexual attraction status did not significantly contribute to the model. Post-hoc analyses indicated that sexual minority students systematically reported that they perceived less privacy in completing the survey, lending support to the notion that these adolescents may feel less trusting of their school environments. These findings are discussed in light of the need for interventions to address the developmental challenges of sexual minority students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University of Kentucky, 245 Dickey Hall, Lexington, KY 40506, USA. rostosk@uky.edu
authors.forename: Sharon Scales
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Rostosky
authors.forename: Gina P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Owens
authors.forename: Rick S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: Ellen D B
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Riggle
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D001061:Appalachian Region / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007629:Kentucky / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012574:Schools; D012737:Sex Factors; D019529:Sexuality / Q000145:classification* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D012933:Social Identification; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data