title: Sexual orientation identity in relation to smoking history and alcohol use at age 18/19: cross-sectional associations from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Information about the health behaviours of minority groups is essential for addressing health inequalities. We evaluated the association among lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) sexual orientation identity and smoking and alcohol use in young people in England.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data drawn from wave 6 of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE).
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-completion questionnaires during home visits, face-to-face interviews and web-based questionnaires.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 7698 participants (3762 men) with information on sexual orientation identity and health behaviours at age 18/19.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cigarette smoking history, alcohol drinking frequency and risky single occasion drinking (RSOD).
  
  
  RESULTS
  LGB identity was reported by 3.1% of participants (55 gay, 33 lesbian, 35 bisexual male, 111 bisexual female), 3.5% when adjusting for the survey design. Adjusting for a range of covariates, identification as lesbian/gay was found to be associated with smoking (OR=2.23, 95% CI 1.42 to 3.51), alcohol drinking >2 days/week (OR=1.99, 95% CI 1.25 to 3.17) and RSOD (OR=1.80, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.86) more than weekly. Bisexual identity was associated with smoking history (OR=1.84, 95% CI 1.30 to 2.61) but not alcohol drinking >2 days/week (OR=1.20, 95% CI 0.79 to 1.81) or RSOD (OR=1.04, 95% CI 0.71 to 2.86).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a sample of more than 7600 young people aged 18/19 years in England, lesbian/gay identity is associated with cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol frequency and RSOD. Bisexual identity is associated with smoking but not RSOD or frequent alcohol drinking.
authors.affiliation: MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Gareth
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hagger-Johnson
authors.forename: Rafik
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Taibjee
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Semlyen
authors.forename: Isla
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fitchie
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fish
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meads
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Varney
keywords: alcohol drinking; alcoholic intoxication; cigarette smoking; cohort studies; sexuality; social epidemiology