Characterization of substance use among underrepresented sexual and gender minority participants in The Population Research in Identity and Disparities for Equality (PRIDE) Study

Figures & data

Table 1. Sample Characteristics and Self-reported Substance Use of Sexual and Gender Minority Adults Participating in The PRIDE Study via iPhone Application (N = 1790).

	Total sample (N = 1790)
Variable	N (%)* or Median (SD)
Demographics
Age, in years	28.17 (11.79)
Gender category
Cisgender man	848 (47.37)
Cisgender woman	600 (33.52)
Gender nonbinary	173 (9.66)
Genderqueer	77 (4.30)
Transfeminine	43 (2.40)
Transmasculine	49 (2.74)
Highest level of education completed
Less than high school	28 (1.57)
High school diploma or equiv.	135 (7.56)
Some college	469 (26.27)
Bachelors degree or equiv.	666 (37.31)
Advanced higher education	487 (27.28)
Hispanic, Latino or of Spanish origin	187 (10.48)
Individual annual gross income
$0–20,000	534 (32.23)
$20,001–40,000	333 (20.10)
$40,001–60,000	277 (16.72)
$60,001–80,000	160 (9.66)
$80,001–100,000	100 (6.04)
$100,001+	253 (15.27)
Race
Non-White	264 (14.88)
African American/Black	35 (1.97)
American Indian/Alaska Native	7 (0.39)
Another Race	33 (1.86)
Asian/Pacific Islander	55 (3.10)
Mixed race	134 (7.55)
White/Caucasian	1510 (85.12)
Sexual orientation
Another sexual orientation	326 (18.21)
Asexual	40 (2.23)
Bisexual	213 (11.90)
Gay	744 (41.56)
Lesbian	233 (13.02)
Pansexual	66 (3.69)
Queer	144 (8.04)
Straight/Heterosexual	24 (1.34)
U.S. Census Bureau region
Midwest	299 (16.86)
Northeast	353 (19.91)
South	505 (28.48)
West	616 (34.74)
Substance Use
Prior diagnosis of alcohol use disorder	89 (5.03)
Prior diagnosis of a substance use disorder^†	80 (4.52)
Perceptions of alcohol use problems
Never had alcohol use problems	1345 (76.07)
Yes, but not now	293 (16.57)
Yes, still have alcohol use problems	130 (7.35)
Perceptions of other drug use problems
I have never had this problem	1477 (83.64)
Yes, but not now	202 (11.44)
Yes, I still have this problem	87 (4.93)
Binge alcohol use, past year	892 (51.03)
Marijuana use, past year	696 (39.82)
Other drug use, past year^‡	344 (19.68)

Binge alcohol use was defined as five or more drinks on one occasion. Other drug use included: cocaine/crack cocaine, amphetamines/methamphetamine, opiates or prescription opiates, sedatives or prescription sedatives, hallucinogens or psychedelic mushrooms, and other recreational drugs such as MDMA/Ecstasy, GHB or ketamine.

* N-values may not equal total N (N = 1790) due to missing data; proportions calculated based on available participant data. (All variables consisted of less than 5% missing data).

† Non-alcohol or non-nicotine related.

‡ Rates of individual other drug use within the past year reported in Appendix.

Table 2. Results of Logistic Regression for Prior Reported Alcohol or Other Drug Use Problems by Sexual Orientation or Gender Category Among Sexual and Gender Minority Adults in The PRIDE Study (N = 1790).

	Alcohol			Other drugs
	N (%)	aOR (95% CI)	p Value	N (%)	aOR (95% CI)	p Value
Gender category^a^,^b			0.84			0.47
Cisgender man	209 (24.91)	0.87 (0.42, 1.80)	0.71	150 (17.88)	0.87 (0.40,1.89)	0.72
Cisgender woman	137 (23.14)	ref	–	79 (13.39)	ref	–
Gender nonbinary	31 (18.24)	0.80 (0.49, 1.29)	0.36	27 (15.88)	1.18 (0.69, 2.00)	0.55
Genderqueer	18 (23.68)	1.06 (0.59, 1.94)	0.85	12 (15.79)	1.13 (0.56, 2.29)	0.74
Transfeminine	13 (30.95)	0.99 (0.38, 2.57)	0.99	9 (21.43)	1.05 (0.37, 2.99)	0.92
Transmasculine	15 (30.61)	1.39 (0.68, 2.83)	0.37	12 (24.49)	2.11 (0.98, 4.53)	0.06
Sexual orientation^a^,^c			0.03			0.13
Another sexual orientation	85 (20.09)	1.19 (0.78, 1.83)	0.42	57 (17.76)	1.31 (0.78, 2.21)	0.31
Asexual	4 (10.26)	0.48 (0.16, 1.43)	0.19	2 (5.13)	0.39 (0.09, 1.76)	0.22
Bisexual	39 (18.48)	0.70 (0.43, 1.14)	0.15	36 (17.06)	1.20 (0.68, 2.11)	0.53
Gay	178 (24.15)	0.68 (0.40, 1.17)	0.17	125 (16.96)	0.75 (0.40, 1.39)	0.36
Lesbian	58 (25.44)	ref	–	30 (13.22)	ref	–
Pansexual	18 (27.69)	1.58 (0.82, 3.04)	0.17	12 (18.46)	1.58 (0.73, 3.42)	0.24
Queer	32 (22.54)	1.10 (0.65, 1.86)	0.73	21 (14.79)	1.15 (0.61, 2.18)	0.67

aOR: adjusted odds ratio; CI: confidence interval; SO: sexual orientation.

Bold p Values designate statistically significant results that were determined via regression modeling using an α < 0.05.

^a Adjusted for age at time of survey completion (in years), sex assigned at birth (female/male), race (white/non-white), and ethnicity (Hispanic, Latinx or of Spanish origin/not).

^b Adjusted for sexual minority status (Y/N).

^c Adjusted for gender experience (masculine/feminine/gender expansive).

Table 3. Logistic Regression for Past Year Binge Alcohol, Marijuana, and Other Drug Use by Sexual Orientation or Gender Category Among Sexual and Gender Minority Adults in The PRIDE Study (N = 1790).

	Binge alcohol use			Marijuana use			Other drug use
	N (%)	aOR (95% CI)	p Value	N (%)	aOR (95% CI)	p Value	N (%)	aOR (95% CI)	p Value
Gender category^a^,^b			<0.01			0.06			0.07
Cisgender man	479 (57.92)	0.85 (0.45, 1.63)	0.63	329 (39.78)	0.56 (0.29, 1.06)	0.08	200 (24.18)	1.27 (0.52, 3.13)	0.60
Cisgender woman	282 (47.96)	ref	–	232 (39.46)	ref	–	99 (16.84)	ref	–
Gender nonbinary	62 (6.95)	0.48 (0.32, 0.71)	<0.001	64 (38.10)	0.74 (0.50, 1.10)	0.13	18 (10.71)	0.51 (0.28, 0.93)	0.03
Genderqueer	34 (44.74)	0.73 (0.43, 1.24)	0.24	28 (36.84)	0.71 (0.41, 1.21)	0.21	11 (14.47)	0.79 (0.38, 1.62)	0.52
Transfeminine	14 (33.33)	0.40 (0.16, 1.01)	0.05	16 (38.10)	0.71 (0.29, 1.74)	0.46	6 (14.29)	0.77 (0.23, 2.63)	0.68
Transmasculine	21 (44.68)	0.81 (0.41, 1.60)	0.55	27 (57.45)	2.18 (1.10, 4.31)	0.03	10 (21.28)	1.34 (0.60, 3.00)	0.48
Sexual orientation^a^,^c			0.02			<0.001			0.47
Another sexual orientation	153 (48.11)	0.86 (0.58, 1.25)	0.42	137 (43.08)	1.58 (1.07, 2.33)	0.02	63 (19.81)	1.38 (0.84, 2.28)	0.20
Asexual	10 (25.64)	0.27 (0.12, 0.61)	<0.01	8 (20.51)	0.38 (0.15, 0.96)	0.04	5 (12.82)	0.74 (0.24, 2.28)	0.60
Bisexual	97 (45.97)	0.68 (0.45, 1.03)	0.07	81 (38.39)	1.21 (0.79, 1.83)	0.38	32 (15.17)	0.88 (0.50, 1.54)	0.65
Gay	419 (57.79)	1.03 (0.64, 1.66)	0.91	289 (39.86)	1.41 (0.87, 2.28)	0.17	173 (23.86)	1.22 (0.67, 2.23)	0.51
Lesbian	109 (48.02)	ref	–	72 (31.72)	ref	–	32 (14.10)	ref	–
Pansexual	27 (42.19)	0.63 (0.35, 1.15)	0.14	25 (39.06)	1.29 (0.71, 2.36)	0.41	9 (14.06)	1.02 (0.45, 2.31)	0.97
Queer	67 (47.97)	0.90 (0.57, 1.43)	0.67	75 (53.57)	2.52 (1.58, 4.03)	<0.001	26 (18.57)	1.43 (0.78, 2.60)	0.24

aOR: adjusted odds ratio; CI: confidence interval; SO: sexual orientation.

Bold p Values designate statistically significant results that were determined via regression modeling using an α < 0.05.

^a Adjusted for age at time of survey completion (in years), sex assigned at birth (female/male), race (white/non-white), and ethnicity (Hispanic, Latin or Spanish origin/not).

^b Adjusted for sexual minority status (Y/N).

^c Adjusted for gender experience (masculine/feminine/gender expansive).

Table 4. Results of Negative Binomial Regression for Previous 30-day Binge Alcohol and Marijuana Use by Sexual Orientation or Gender Category among Sexual and Gender Minority Adults in The PRIDE Study (N = 1790).

	Binge alcohol days			Marijuana days
	Mean (IQR), SD	aRR (95% CI)	p Value	Mean (IQR), SD	aRR (95% CI)	p Value
Gender category^a^,^b			<0.001			0.92
Cisgender man	1.54 (0–2), 3.76	0.93 (0.39, 2.23)	0.87	2.86 (0–0), 7.65	1.18 (0.34, 4.17)	0.79
Cisgender woman	0.86 (0–0), 2.62	ref	–	2.15 (0–0), 6.60	ref	–
Gender nonbinary	0.33 (0–0), 0.97	0.28 (0.15, 0.50)	<0.001	2.77 (0–0), 7.75	1.28 (0.61, 2.72)	0.52
Genderqueer	0.46 (0–0), 1.16	0.42 (0.20, 0.90)	0.03	2.44 (0–0), 7.13	1.12 (0.39, 3.19)	0.83
Transfeminine	0.71 (0–0), 2.75	0.41 (0.13, 1.33)	0.14	4.41 (0–0), 9.78	1.88 (0.33, 10.76)	0.48
Transmasculine	1.09 (0–1), 3.30	1.01 (0.41, 2.48)	0.98	3.55 (0–2), 8.49	1.68 (0.51, 5.56)	0.40
Sexual orientation^a^,^c			0.09			0.01
Another sexual orientation	0.72 (0–0), 2.17	0.74 (0.44, 1.27)	0.27	3.01 (0–0), 7.81	1.86 (0.87, 4.00)	0.11
Asexual	0.33 (0–0), 1.15	0.32 (0.10, 1.06)	0.06	0.38 (0–0), 2.24	0.16 (0.03, 0.79)	0.03
Bisexual	0.79 (0–0), 2.39	0.79 (0.46, 1.36)	0.39	2.16 (0–0), 6.64	1.26 (0.56, 2.85)	0.58
Gay	1.61 (0–2), 3.87	1.33 (0.69, 2.57)	0.39	2.75 (0–0), 7.51	1.11 (0.44, 2.80)	0.83
Lesbian	0.81 (0–0), 2.66	ref	–	1.42 (0–0), 5.53	ref	–
Pansexual	0.73 (0–0), 2.21	0.72 (0.32, 1.66)	0.44	2.58 (0–0), 7.44	1.56 (0.49, 4.98)	0.46
Queer	0.84 (0–0), 2.52	1.10 (0.60, 2.02)	0.77	4.78 (0–2), 9.70	3.46 (1.37, 8.73)	0.01

IQR: interquartile range; SD: standard deviation; aRR: adjusted rate ratio; CI: confidence interval.

Previous 30-day binge alcohol use [Mean: 1.12, IQR: (0,1), SD: 3.13]; marijuana use [Mean: 2.65, IQR: (0,0), SD: 7.38].

Bold p Values designate statistically significant results that were determined via regression modeling using an α < 0.05.

^a Adjusted for age at time of survey completion (in years), sex assigned at birth (female/male), race (white/non-white), and ethnicity (Hispanic, Latin or Spanish origin/not).

^b Adjusted for sexual minority status (Y/N).

^c Adjusted for gender experience (masculine/feminine/gender expansive).

Table A1. Rates of Individual Other Drug Use Within the Past Year Among Select sexual and gender minority adults participating in The PRIDE Study via iPhone Application (N = 1790).

	Total sample (N = 1790)
Category of other drug use	N(%)*
Powder/crack cocaine	98 (5.62)
Amphetamines/methamphetamine	46 (2.63)
Club drugs (e.g., MDMA/ecstasy, GHB, ketamine)	106 (6.06)
Opiates or prescription opiates (e.g., heroin, Oxycontin, Vicodin)	105 (6.01)
Sedatives (e.g., Xanax, Valium, Ativan)	130 (7.43)
Hallucinogens (e.g., LSD/acid, psychedelic mushrooms)	69 (3.95)

* Individual substance use outcomes consisted of less than 5% missing data and proportions were calculated based on available participant data.

Data availability

For questions concerning analyses described here, please contact our corresponding author, Annesa Flentje, PhD. All other inquiries about data accessibility and The PRIDE Study should be directed to [email protected]