3 - (SYM 75) Intersectional Oppression-based Stress and Substance Use Among LGBTQ+ Adolescents of Color: Moderating Role of Attending a School with a Gender Sexuality Alliance

Objective: Sexual and gender minority adolescents (SGMA) are more likely than their heterosexual and cisgender peers to engage in substance use and hazardous use. Oppression-based stress is known to contribute to this health disparity. SGMA who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (QTBIPOC) experience unique stressors at the intersection of racism, heterosexism, and cissexism. Attending a school with a gender sexuality alliance (GSA) may be an important protective factor among SGMA, but there is little research exploring protective factors among QTBIPOC adolescents. We examined the relationship between intersectional oppression-based stress and substance use (i.e., alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis) and the potential moderating effect of school gender sexuality alliances in this relationship among a large sample of QTBIPOC adolescents.

Methods:  Participants were 3,283 QTBIPOC adolescents from a U.S. national sample of SGMA aged 13 to 18 years old (M = 15.83; SD = 1.48; 33% cisgender; 48% Latine; 23% Biracial/Multiracial & non-Latine). The LGBT People of Color Microaggressions scale was used to assess intersectional oppression-based stress.

Results: Intersectional oppression-based stress was significantly associated with each substance use outcome (recent use of alcohol, cigarettes, vapes, and cannabis, and recent heavy alcohol use). Attending a school with a GSA was negatively associated with recent vape and cigarette use and with recent heavy alcohol use, but it was not significantly associated with recent use of alcohol or cannabis. Attending a school with a GSA did not buffer the association between intersectional oppression-based stress and substance use; it was not a significant moderator for any of the substance use outcomes.

Conclusion: These results underscore the importance of intersectional oppression-based stress in understanding substance use and hazardous use among QTBIPOC adolescents. Results indicated that attending a school with a GSA may be protective factor for substance use but did not mitigate the harmful effects of intersectional oppression-based stress. More research is needed to identify other protective factors that mitigate the risks posed by intersectional oppression-based stress on substance use. These results also highlight the critical importance of interventions to reduce the oppression-based stress experienced by QTBIPOC adolescents.