Open AccessSubstance Use and Sexual-Minority Status: Examining the Mediating Roles of Stress and Emotion Dysregulation in Young Adult Women
Author(s) -
Connor McCabe,
Alison E. Hipwell,
Kate Keenan,
Stephanie D. Stepp,
Tammy Chung,
Kevin M. King
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
clinical psychological science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.74
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 2167-7034
pISSN - 2167-7026
DOI - 10.1177/2167702621999359
Subject(s) - psychology , sexual minority , stressor , mediation , minority stress , young adult , social stress , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , longitudinal study , emotional dysregulation , moderated mediation , sexual orientation , medicine , social psychology , pathology , political science , law
Sexual minority women (SMW) report higher rates of substance use and disorder across the lifespan, and greater levels of minority stress in adolescence and young adulthood. Minority stress mediation models propose that higher levels of social stressors may increase emotion dysregulation, which in turn increases the propensity toward substance misuse. Few studies, however, have prospectively examined the impact of stressors and emotion dysregulation among SMW on early and escalating substance use. This longitudinal study examined whether emotion dysregulation and social stress mediated the association between sexual minority status and developing substance use (ages 17 through 22 years) in a sample of 2,201 heterosexual and 246 SMW participants in the Pittsburgh Girls Study. Results supported serial mediation processes of marijuana use risk: SMW reported higher levels of social stress in late adolescence, which in turn predicted greater emotion dysregulation that was associated with greater marijuana use by young adulthood.