Socioenvironmental and mental health determinants of alcohol use among Black sexually minoritized men and transgender women: Findings from the N2 cohort study

Cho-Hee Shrader; Christopher M Ferraris; Jill Frechette; Chris Magana; Christoffer Dharma; Anthony F Santoro; Deborah Hasin; William Goedel; Mainza Durrell; Hillary Hanson; Moira McNulty; Dustin T Duncan; John A Schneider; Justin R Knox

doi:10.1080/19359705.2025.2502351

Socioenvironmental and mental health determinants of alcohol use among Black sexually minoritized men and transgender women: Findings from the N2 cohort study

J Gay Lesbian Ment Health. 2025 Sep 18:10.1080/19359705.2025.2502351. doi: 10.1080/19359705.2025.2502351. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Cho-Hee Shrader^{1

2}, Christopher M Ferraris^{3

4}, Jill Frechette⁵, Chris Magana^{3

4

5}, Christoffer Dharma^{1

6}, Anthony F Santoro^{3

4}, Deborah Hasin¹, William Goedel⁷, Mainza Durrell^{8

9}, Hillary Hanson^{8

9}, Moira McNulty⁸, Dustin T Duncan¹, John A Schneider^{8

9}, Justin R Knox^{3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, 10036, USA.
² College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA, 85004.
³ New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA, 10032, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, 10036, USA.
⁵ Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, 10036, USA.
⁶ Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5T, 3M7.
⁷ Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, USA.
⁸ Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.
⁹ Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.

PMID: 40995042
PMCID: PMC12456682 (available on 2026-09-18)
DOI: 10.1080/19359705.2025.2502351

Abstract

Introduction: We aimed to identify socioenvironmental determinants of alcohol use among Black sexually minoritized men (SMM) and transgender women (TW).

Method: Data were from the Neighborhoods and Networks (N2) cohort study among Black SMM and TW (01/2018-08/2020). We used stepwise negative binomial regression to identify associations with alcohol use.

Result: Among our sample of 142 Black SMM and TW (age_mean=24±4 years), 68% reported past month alcohol use. Adverse childhood experiences (IRR=1.10;95%CI=1.03-1.18), GAD-7 (IRR=1.03;95%CI=1.00-1.07), and community violence (IRR=1.06;95%CI=1.02-1.10), were positively associated with alcohol use.

Conclusion: Multilevel alcohol reduction interventions can consider reducing community violence and increasing access to mental health services.

Keywords: Adverse Childhood Experiences; African Americans; Alcohol Drinking; Exposure to Violence; Sexual and Gender Minorities.

Abstract

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