• Chiaki Konishi, Elizabeth Saewyc, Yuko Homma, and Colleen Poon.
• School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, T201-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada. Electronic address: c.konishi@alumni.ubc.ca.
• Prev Med. 2013 Dec 1; 57 (6): 929-33.

ObjectiveThis study examined whether students' odds of recent substance use were lower in the presence of gay-straight alliances or explicit anti-homophobia policy that had been established at their school recently, or at least 3 years prior.MethodsWe analyzed a population-based sample of students in grades 8 through 12 from the British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey of 2008 (weighted N=21,708). We used multi-nomial logistic regressions to test the hypothesized effects of gay-straight alliances and policies on substance use outcomes for lesbian, gay and bisexual students, and heterosexual students separately.ResultsResults indicated that gay-straight alliances and anti-homophobic bullying policies were linked to significantly lower odds of some but not all types of recent risky alcohol use, and past-year harms from alcohol or drug use, but almost exclusively in schools where the policies or gay-straight alliances had been established for at least 3 years; and among lesbian, gay and bisexual adolescents, only for girls.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that these school-based strategies (gay-straight alliances and anti-homophobia policies) to reduce homophobia and foster school inclusion may be beneficial in reducing problem alcohol use among all students, not just sexual minority students.© 2013.

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