Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy
Open Access

Editorial

Establishing Effective Interventions for Sexual Minority Substance Users

Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA

*Corresponding Author:

Amelia E. Talley
Department of Psychological Sciences
University of Missouri, 200 South Seventh ST
Room 105, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Tel: 573-884-8544
Fax: 573-884-5588
E-mail: talleyae@missouri.edu

Received July 17, 2012; Accepted July 18, 2012; Published July 20, 2012

Citation: Talley AE (2012) Establishing Effective Interventions for Sexual Minority Substance Users. J Addict Res Ther 3:e110.doi: 10.4172/2155-6105.1000e110

Copyright: © 2012 Talley AE. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Certain subgroups of sexual minority individuals have higher prevalence rates of alcohol, nicotine, and illicit drug use disorders, compared to their heterosexual counterparts. Moreover, previous findings indicate that sexual minority individuals are more likely than heterosexual individuals to enter treatment with more severe substance use problems. Work that examines explanations for these disparities highlights the potential for findings to inform targeted intervention efforts. Unfortunately, relatively few LGB-tailored interventions have been conducted, and those that do not have support that these tailored interventions are more efficacious than generalized interventions. Nevertheless, substance use interventions that target LGB individuals may be beneficial in generating initial interest in enrollment and reducing concerns that typically hinder sexual minority individuals from seeking treatment.