Cigarette smoking, e-cigarette use, and sexual identity among high school students in the USA

Conclusions: Sexual identity status is strongly associated with cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use. Female bisexual adolescents have an increased risk of cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use for ≥ 20 days. While tobacco control policies have been effective in reducing cigarette use in the general population, targeting policy toward sexual minorities is an important consideration.What is Known:•Sexual minority groups face a disproportionate amount of stress and have a heightened risk of substance use.•Methodological concerns exist in the extant literature, including limited data at the national level.What is New:•Propensity score matching was used to account for imbalances in sexual identity subgroups, and findings show significant heterogeneity in cigarette and e-cigarette use among sexual minority high school students.•Sexual identity status is strongly associated with cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use, especially among bisexual identity female subgroup.
Source: European Journal of Pediatrics - Category: Pediatrics Source Type: research