Risk factors related to smoking disparities among sexual minority young adults

描述（由申请人提供）：研究一致表明，女同性恋、男同性恋和双性恋（即LGB或性少数群体）人群的吸烟率比一般人群高50%至70%。然而，关键的研究工作仍在努力确定这些差异的病因，特别是在确定性少数群体特有的家庭、社会文化和心理因素的作用方面。具体而言，暴力和歧视与种族/族裔群体的危险行为和精神和身体健康状况不佳有关，但对性少数群体的这些后遗症的研究相对较少。此外，对性少数群体的戒烟行为类型以及与戒烟行为相关的促进/抑制因素的研究也很缺乏。根据美国国家药物滥用研究所的流行病学研究重点：1)影响药物使用的多种因素和2)与药物使用相关的社会心理机制途径，本项目的长期目标是加强目前对戒烟行为和风险因素的理解，这些因素是造成性少数群体吸烟差异的单一因素和附加因素。本项目采用基于网络的横断面调查，采用混合方法，专门招募一组性少数群体年轻人（18至24岁），以：(1)确定与吸烟相关的风险因素；(2)探索吸烟相关危险因素的途径；(3)研究与戒烟相关的戒烟行为和促进/抑制因素。通过加强目前对性少数群体中单一风险和附加风险的理解，该项目的结果可用于为关键的预防和干预策略提供信息，并生成性少数群体特有的风险和复原力的理论模型。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Research consistently demonstrates higher smoking rates - up to 50 to 70 percent higher - among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (i.e., LGB or sexual minority) populations than the general population. However, crucial research efforts remain to determine the etiology for these disparities, especially in qualifying the roles of familial, socio-cultural, and psychological factors unique to sexual minorities. Specifically, violence and discrimination have been associated with risk behaviors and poor mental and physical health among racial/ethnic groups, but relatively little research has looked at these sequelae among sexual minorities. Moreover, there is a paucity of research on types of cessation behaviors and facilitating/inhibiting factors associated with cessation behaviors among sexual minorities. Consistent with National Institute on Drug Abuse epidemiological research foci of studying 1) multiple factors that influence drug use and 2) pathways of psychosocial mechanisms associated with drug use, the long-term goal of this project is to enhance current understanding of cessation behaviors and risk factors that singularly and additively contribute to smoking disparities among sexual minority persons. Through a mixed-methods approach using a cross-sectional, web-based survey, this project specifically aims to recruit a sample of young adult (18 to 24 years of age) sexual minority young adults to: (1) identify risk factors associated with smoking; (2) explore pathways of risk factors associated with smoking; and (3) examine cessation behaviors and facilitating/inhibiting factors associated with smoking cessation. By enhancing current understanding of what confers singular and additive risk among sexual minorities, the results of this project can be used to inform critical prevention and intervention strategies and to generate theoretical models of risk and resiliency unique to sexual minorities. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Tobacco-related problems are a Leading Health Indicator in Healthy People 2010 with specific goals for reduction in use among adults,1 of which the age group of 18 to 24 reflects the highest percentage (28.5 percent) of adult smokers.2, 3 Research consistently demonstrates smoking disparities among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (i.e., LGB or sexual minority) populations, who have much higher smoking rates than the general population.4, 5 It is critical to examine patterns and pathways of risk and resiliency in sexual minorities to inform theoretical models of why this disparity exists and what can/should be done to address it.