Drug use and perceived social support in a sexual minority

Consumo de sustancias y apoyo social percibido por minoría sexual

Aim  To evaluate the perception of social support in a sexual minority and to associate it with the risk of drug addiction.

Method  Cross-sectional study, with 254 self-declared gay, bisexual, lesbian, or transsexual participants in the city of Fortaleza, between October and December 2019. Data analyzed by descriptive statistics and likelihood ratio tests.

Results  Most were satisfied with social support between low and medium (74.4%). The most commonly used drugs were alcohol (91.5%), tobacco (67.4%) and marijuana (66.9%). Assessing the risk of addiction, 28.7% scored it as low, 46.9% as moderate, and 9.8% as high risk. There was significance between satisfaction of social support and years of study.

Conclusion  We found a level of satisfaction between low and medium, and it was possible to report the most consumed drugs. There was no association between social support and drug use, although the weaknesses and strengths of social support have been highlighted.

Keywords
Sexual and gender minorities; Social support; Substance-related disorders