Trends in binge drinking in the United States by LGBTQ+ identity, gender, and age, 2014–2022

Background

People who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) have higher rates of risky drinking than their cisgender, heterosexual peers. It is unknown to what extent recent age and gender trends in binge drinking vary by LGBTQ+ identity.

Methods

We used nationally representative, serial, cross-sectional surveys from men and women in the 2014–2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (N = 2,099,959) to examine trends in past-month binge drinking by LGBTQ+ identity, gender, and age (18–29, 30–44, 45 and older). We estimated stratum-specific prevalence ratios for an average 1-year increase in prevalence of past-month binge drinking using survey-weighted log-binomial models, controlling for education, race/ethnicity, marriage, and parenthood status.

Results

In the beginning of the study period, LGBTQ+ women endorsed binge drinking at higher prevalences than their cisgender, heterosexual peers (i.e., 2014 predicted probability for women ages 30–44: 0.22 for LGBTQ+, 0.15 for cisgender, heterosexual). LGBTQ+ disparities in women's drinking attenuated over the study period among women in midlife (30–44 age group) due to increases in binge drinking among cisgender, heterosexual women (Prevalence Ratio [PR]: 1.025, 95% CI 1.018–1.033). Among men, we saw no evidence of LGBTQ+ disparities in binge drinking probabilities or in binge drinking trends across all age groups.

Conclusions

Disparities in mid-life binge drinking between LGBTQ+ and cisgender women have begun to diminish. These disparities are closing not because LGBTQ+ women are binge drinking less, but because cisgender, heterosexual women in midlife are binge drinking more.