Houston Style Magazine - Non-heterosexual women who feel a disconnect between who they are attracted to and how they identify themselves may have a higher risk of alcohol abuse, according to a new study led by Amelia E. Talley, an assistant professor in Texas Tech University’s Department of Psychological Sciences.
The study, titled "Longitudinal Associations among Discordant Sexual Orientation Dimensions and Hazardous Drinking in a Cohort of Sexual Minority Women," appears in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. It delves into the reasons behind higher rates of drinking in women who don't identify as heterosexual.
"There's a lot of research that shows people who are not heterosexual — that is, those who are bisexual, gay or lesbian — have higher levels of alcohol-use disorders, but it was not clear what explains that disparity aside from looking at the fact that they identify as non-heterosexual, which was not satisfying to me as a reason, per se," Talley said.