Drug use and perceived social support in a sexual minority

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

Results of the responses	Mean	Min	Max	SD
Dimension 1: Satisfaction with friends	2.25	1	5	1.36
Friends do not look for me as often as I would like	3.49	1	5	1.33
I am satisfied with the number of friends I have	1.73	1	5	0.99
I am satisfied with the amount of time I spend with my friends	2.49	1	5	1.76
I am satisfied with the activities and things I do with my group of friends	2.05	1	5	1.12
I am satisfied with the type of friends I have	1.49	1	5	0.91
Dimension 2: Intimate relations	2.62	1	5	1.46
Sometimes I feel alone in the world, with no support	3.25	1	5	1.36
Sometimes I miss someone really intimate that understands me and with whom I can talk about intimate things	3.34	1	5	1.48
When I need to vent, I found friends to do so easily	1.89	1	5	1.21
Even in the most embarrassing situations, If I need emergency support I have a lot of people I can resor to	2.03	1	5	1.13
Dimension 3: Satisfaction with family	2.96	1	5	1.47
I am satisfied with the way I relate to my family	2.62	1	5	1.48
I am satisfied with what I do with my family	2.77	1	5	1.39
I am satisfied with the amount of time I spend with my family	3.49	1	5	1.39
Dimension 4: Social activities	3.03	1	5	1.49
I do not go out with friends as often as I would like	3.15	1	5	1.48
I miss social activities that satisfy me	3.03	1	5	1.46
I would like to participate more often in activities in organizations	2.93	1	5	1.53

Substance	Satisfactionwith social support			P-value
Substance	Low	Mean	High	P-value
Tobacco				0,88
Never used	31 (30.2%)	44 (42.7%)	28 (27.1%)
Used	46 (30.4%)	68 (45.1%)	37 (24.5%)
Alcohol				0.83
Never used	15 (30.6%)	20 (40.8%)	14 (28.6%)
Used	62 (30.4%)	92 (44.8%)	51 (24.8%)
Marijuana				0.60
Never used	36 (33.3%)	47 (43.5%)	25 (23.2%)
Used	41 (28.1%)	65 (44.5%)	40 (27.4%)
Cocaineor crack				0.94
Never used	70 (30.5%)	101 (44.2%)	58 (25.3%)
Used	7 (28%)	11 (44%)	7 (28%)
Stimulants				0.57
Never used	67 (29.4%)	101 (44.3%)	60 (26.3%)
Used	10 (38.5%)	11 (42.3%)	5 (19.2%)
Inhalant				0.38
Never used	63 (30.1%)	89 (42.6%)	57 (27.3%)
Used	14 (31.1%)	23 (51.1%)	8 (17.8%)
Hypnoticsandtranquilizers				0.20
Never used	73 (31.8%)	100 (43.7%)	56 (24.5%)
Used	4 (16%)	12 (48%)	9 (36%)
Hallucinogen				0.66
Never used	71 (31.2%)	100 (43.8%)	57 (25%)
Used	6 (23%)	11 (42.4%)	9 (34.6%)
Opiates				0.76
Never used	76 (30.5%)	109 (43.8%)	64 (25.7%)
Used	1 (20%)	3 (60%)	1 (20%)

Risk for addictionon substances	Satisfaction with social support			Total	P-value
Risk for addictionon substances	Low	Medium	High	Total	P-value
Low	33 (42.8%)	44 (39.3%)	33 (50.8%)	110 (43.3%)	0,67
Moderate	37 (48.1%)	56 (50%)	26 (40%)	119 (46.9%)
High	7 (9.1%)	12 (10.7%)	6 (9.2%)	25 (9.8%)
Total	77 (100%)	112 (100%)	65 (100%)	254 (100%)

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Escola de Enfermagem Rua São Manoel, 963 -Campus da Saúde , 90.620-110 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brasil, Fone: (55 51) 3308-5242 / Fax: (55 51) 3308-5436 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brazil
E-mail: revista@enf.ufrgs.br

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[1] Corresponding author:
Izabel Cristina de Souza. E-mail: izabelsouzaenf@gmail.com