Table 4.

Associations between sexual orientation, parent-child communication group trajectories, and substance use at age 18

	Simple Models				Adjusted Models
Variable	Model 1		Model 2		Model 3		Model 4

Cigarette Use at Age 18	β (SE)		β (SE)		β (SE)		β (SE)

Sexual Orientation^a	0.76^***	(0.12)	0.74^***	(0.12)	0.79^***	(0.13)	0.77^***	(0.13)
Communication Trajectories
Frequent Stable			Ref			Ref
Infrequent increasing			0.25^*	(0.12)			0.32^*	(0.13)
Infrequent decreasing			0.32	(0.18)			0.47^*	(0.19)
African American^b					−0.71^***	(0.12)	−0.78^***	(0.12)
Single Parent^c					0.11	(0.11)	0.11	(0.11)
SES^d					0.50^***	(0.12)	0.44^***	(0.12)
High Neighborhood Problems^e					0.02	(0.10)	−0.02	(0.10)
Sobel Test Z-Score		2.13^*	(0.04)		2.15^*	(0.13)

Marijuana Use	β (SE)		β (SE)		β (SE)		β (SE)

Sexual Orientation^a	0.73^***	(0.12)	0.72^***	(0.12)	0.72^***	(0.12)	0.71^***	(0.13)
Communication Trajectories
Frequent Stable			Ref				Ref
Infrequent increasing			0.28^*	(0.12)			0.26^*	(0.12)
Infrequent decreasing			0.22	(0.19)			0.20	(0.19)
African American^b					0.01	(0.11)	−0.03	(0.11)
Single Parent^c					0.10	(0.10)	0.10	(0.10)
SES^d					0.17	(0.11)	0.16	(0.11)
High Neighborhood Problems^e					0.05	(0.10)	−0.06	(0.10)
Sobel Test Z-Score			1.99	(0.04)^*			2.02^*	(0.03)

Binge Drinking	β (SE)		β (SE)		β (SE)		β (SE)

Sexual Orientation^a	0.41^*	(0.19)	0.41^*	(0.19)	0.45^*	(0.19)	0.44^*	(0.19)
Communication Trajectories
Frequent Stable			Ref				Ref
Infrequent increasing			−0.16	(0.14)			−0.05	(0.15)
Infrequent decreasing			0.21	(0.28)			0.37	(0.29)
African American^b					−0.68^***	(0.13)	−0.69^***	(0.13)
Single Parent^c					0.34^*	(0.14)	0.34^*	(0.14)
SES^d					−0.12	(0.15)	−0.12	(0.15)
High Neighborhood Problems^e					−0.21	(0.14)	−0.21	(0.14)
Sobel Test Z-Score			0.21	(0.04)			0.98	(0.04)

Note. Model 1 tests the association between substance use at age 18 and sexual orientation; Model 2 tests the association between sexual orientation and substance use at age 18 mediated by trajectories of parent-child communication; Model 3 tests the association between substance use at age 18 and sexual orientation adjusted for race, SES, single parent household, and neighborhood problems. Model 4 tests the association between sexual orientation and substance use at age 18 mediated by trajectories of parent-child communication and adjusted for race, SES, single parent household, and neighborhood problems; SE = standard error; SES = socioeconomic status

Heterosexual girls were used as reference

White girls were used as reference

Cohabitating parents were used as reference

Higher SES was used as reference

Low Neighborhood Problems was used a reference

p < 0.05

^**

p < 0.01

^***

p < 0.001