Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jan 5;17(1):19.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-3905-0.

Marijuana use and sex with multiple partners among lesbian, gay and bisexual youth: results from a national sample

Xiaoyun Zhang  1 , Li-Tzy Wu  2   3   4
Affiliations

Marijuana use and sex with multiple partners among lesbian, gay and bisexual youth: results from a national sample

Xiaoyun Zhang et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Sex with multiple partners (SMP) is one of the important contributing factors for contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescents and young adults, especially among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual (LGB) youth. Past studies mainly focus on examining associations of alcohol or club drugs use with unprotected sexual behaviors among adult homo/bisexual men, while little is known about the temporal association between marijuana use (MU) and SMP among LGB youth.

Methods: This study examined the relationship between MU and SMP among LGB adolescents and young adults. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) logistic regression analyses were utilized to analyze four waves' public-use Add Health data (N = 694, youth who reported a homo/bisexual status at any wave; Wave 1: aged 11-21; Wave 4: aged 24-32).

Results: After adjusting for other substance use, current depression, mother-child relationship quality at Wave 1, and socioeconomic variables, past-year MU was both concurrently and prospectively associated with past-year SMP. The moderating effect of age was not found.

Conclusion: MU is concurrently and prospectively associated with increased odds of SMP in the adolescent sample and in the young adult sample. Findings imply that prevention/intervention on HIV risk behaviors may benefit from MU reduction not only in LGB adolescents but also in young adults.

Keywords: Bisexual youth; Gay; Lesbian; Marijuana use; Sex with multiple partners.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2014. HIV Surveillance Report 2014. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/surveillance/. Published November 2015. Accessed 29 July 2016.
    1. Goodenow C, Szalacha LA, Robin LE, Westheimer K. Dimensions of sexual orientation and HIV-related risk among adolescent females: Evidence from a statewide survey. Am J Public Health. 2008;98:1051–1058. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.080531. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Center for Disease Control and Prevention Sexual identity, sex of sexual contacts, and health-risk behaviors among students in Grade 9–12: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, selected sites, United States, 2001–2009. MMWR. 2011;60(7):1–51. - PubMed
    1. Marshal MP, Friedman MS, Stall R, Thompson AL. Individual trajectories of substance use in lesbian, gay and bisexual youth and heterosexual youth. Addiction. 2009;104:974–981. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02531.x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cavazos-Rehg PA, Krauss MJ, Spitznagel EL, Schootman M, Cottler LB, Bierut LJ. Number of sexual partners and associations with initiation and intensity of substance use. AID Behav. 2011;15:869–874. doi: 10.1007/s10461-010-9669-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms