Lesbian and bisexual girls ages 12 to 17 are much more likely to smoke than are their peers, according to 1999 data from the Growing Up Today Study, a large ongoing national study of more than 10,000 youth. It appeared in the April edition of the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
'Lesbian/bisexual girls were more than 6 times more likely to have smoked in the past month and almost 10 times more likely to have smoked at least weekly in the past year, compared with heterosexual girls,' wrote lead author S. Bryn Austin, a researcher at Children's Hospital in Boston.
Almost 40% of the LB girls reported smoking at least once a week, compared with only 6% of heterosexual girls. 'In contrast, GB boys had significantly lower tobacco dependence scores, compared with heterosexual boys.'
'Antigay stigma and harassment, rejection from family, friends, peers and sometimes even physical violence can create a hostile environment for many young people coming to terms with their sexual orientation,' Austin wrote. 'This, combined with the tobacco industry's targeted marketing to lesbian and gay communities is putting lesbian and bisexual girls in harm's way.'
Pennsylvania State University researcher Anthony R. D'Augelli wrote in an accompanying editorial: 'More LGB youth are 'coming out' at earlier ages than previous cohorts during the years in which they are still in school and still, for the most part, living at home. Despite more accepting public attitudes about homosexuality, the stigma attached to being LGB remains powerful.'
Some may latch onto smoking as a mechanism to help cope with the stress. This does not explain why gay boys would have less tobacco use their heterosexual boys.