title: Sexual orientation, partnership formation, and substance use in the transition to adulthood.
abstract: Evidence suggests that lesbian and gay young adults use substances more frequently than their heterosexual peers. Based on the life course perspective, we argue that this difference may be due to the unavailability of marriage as a turning point in the lives of lesbian/gay young adults. We use data from a nationally representative sample of youth (N = 13,581, 52.4% female, 68.6% white, ages 18-26) to examine sexual orientation differences in substance use and explore whether these differences vary by romantic partnership formation in young adulthood. We find that the formation of more serious partnerships (e.g., cohabitation, marriage) is associated with less frequent substance use among heterosexual young adults, though this pattern does not hold for lesbian and gay young adults. We conclude that the partnership options available to lesbians and gay men do not provide the same health-protective benefits that marriage does for heterosexuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Heritage Hall 460-S, 1401 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. elaustin@uab.edu
authors.forename: Erika Laine
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bozick
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011606:Psychosexual Development; D020377:Self Efficacy; D019529:Sexuality / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012944:Social Support; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult