Anabolic Steroid Misuse Among US Adolescent Boys: Disparities by Sexual Orientation and Race/Ethnicity

OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence of anabolic steroid misuse among US adolescent boys as a function of sexual orientation and race/ethnicity. METHODS: We analyzed boys from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 6248; mean age = 16), a representative sample of US high school students. Lifetime prevalence of anabolic steroid misuse was dichotomized as never versus 1 or more times. RESULTS: Sexual minority boys reported elevated misuse compared with heterosexual boys, within each level of race/ethnicity. Black, Hispanic, and White sexual minority boys reported misuse at approximately 25%, 20%, and 9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual orientation health disparities in anabolic steroid misuse disproportionally affect Black and Hispanic sexual minority adolescent boys, but more research is needed to understand the mechanisms driving these disparities.