Recommendations for affirming brief motivational interventions for sexual minority college student drinking

Abstract

Purpose: College students who identify as a sexual minority consume alcohol at rates that are equal to, or greater than, their heterosexual peers and sexual minority stress factors (e.g. discrimination, sexual orientation-based violence) are predictors of their alcohol use. Despite research supporting the use of brief motivational interventions (BMIs) to reduce alcohol use among college student populations, there has yet to be a single study to investigate whether BMIs are effective for reducing alcohol use and consequences among sexual minority college students.

Methods: In this article we provide recommendations for ways BMIs for sexual minority college student drinking can be more affirming by incorporating minority stress factors into their programs.

Results: To confirm that no empirical studies examined the efficacy of BMIs, or adapted BMIs to include a focus on minority stress, for reducing alcohol use among sexual minority college students, we first conducted a systematic literature review of BMIs for sexual minority college student drinking using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines.

Conclusion: Next, based on (1) evidence that culturally adapting empirically-support treatments improves outcomes and (2) a conceptual model of minority stress and alcohol use, we recommend ways that BMIs for sexual minority college student drinking could be adapted to include a focus on minority stress experiences. We also recommend ways that existing components of BMIs, particularly alcohol expectancies, coping motives, and normative feedback on peers’ alcohol use, could be modified to better align with the experiences and perceptions of sexual minority college students.

Keywords:

• Alcohol
• sexual minority
• minority stress
• motivational interviewing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).