The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing has received a $3 million federal grant to continue research to identify risk factors for excessive drinking among lesbians.
The five-year study, led by Tonda Hughes, professor of health systems science, will examine how stressful experiences—childhood sexual abuse, adult sexual assault and discrimination based on ethnicity or sexual orientation—are related to psychological harm and hazardous drinking in adult women.
Data will be collected from a diverse sample of 384 adult lesbians in the Chicago area who were previously interviewed by Hughes and her research team in 2000 and 2004. Another 250 new subjects will also be interviewed.
The results of the study will be used to understand how women cope with stresses in their lives.