Skip to main content

ETR Associates Awarded California TRDRP Funding for LGBTQ Project

ETR Associates has recently been funded by the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) of the State of California to look specifically at the rates of tobacco use and the factors associated with tobacco use among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth. The handful of studies that currently exist for this community show that rates of tobacco use among lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are significantly higher than those of their heterosexual peers, and that factors often experienced by these youth, such as lack of family acceptance, school bullying, harassment and victimization, are related to observed higher engagement in tobacco use and other high-risk behaviors. But little is known about the patterns and potential correlates of tobacco use within the LGB adolescent community, and nothing has been published on LGB youth of color. Furthermore, no research with adequate samples has been published on tobacco use by transgender (T) youth, who, along with LGB and questioning (Q) youth, make up the full range of sexual minority youth as defined by policy makers and health-promotion practitioners and stakeholders in California.

This project will be conducted at ETR Associates by Dr. John Shields, Dr. Francisco Buchting and Dr. Jill Glassman. The proposed work will yield some of the first findings on this significantly understudied, diverse and hard-to-reach population. The proposed study will provide results that can be used with confidence by California's tobacco control advocates (e.g., California's Tobacco Control Program and the California Department of Education's Healthy Kids Program) to more effectively target prevention and cessation programming for California's LGBTQ youth.

For more information about this project, please contact Dr. John Shields, Senior Research Associate, at johns@etr.org.

For more information on ETR Associates, please contact Matt McDowell, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, at mattm@etr.org or visit etr.org.

Sign up for the ETR Health Newsletter.

Social Media :

  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram