Wilson MN, Asbridge M, Woolcott C, Langille DB. Can. J. Public Health 2018; 109(2): 233-241.
Affiliation
Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Clinical Research Centre 5790 University Avenue, Halifax, NS, B3H 1V7, Canada.
OBJECTIVES: To determine associations between experiencing alcohol-related harm, sex, and sexual orientation among Canadian high school students.
METHODS: We used data from the 2012 Atlantic Student Drug Use Survey (ASDUS), including a comprehensive six-category measure of sexual orientation and nine different alcohol-related harms for analyses. Simple logistic regression was used to determine the association between experiencing any of the nine harms and each specific alcohol-related harm and sexual orientation, stratified by sex. Analysis was limited to those who indicated they had consumed alcohol in the year prior to the survey.
RESULTS: High rates of having any alcohol-related harm were seen among both males (41.7%) and females (46.0%) attending Atlantic Canadian high schools. Mostly heterosexual males had a lower odds ratio for experiencing any alcohol-related harm compared to heterosexual males. Mostly heterosexual females and bisexual females had higher odds ratios for experiencing any alcohol-related harm than heterosexual females.
CONCLUSIONS: High rates of alcohol-related harm in this population suggest that youth may benefit from a harm reduction approach to alcohol use. While we found that mostly heterosexual and bisexual female youth experience higher levels of alcohol-related harm than heterosexual females, further research is required to confirm this association and to determine its relevance to harm reduction strategies.