Austin Magette

He/him

Education: Bachelor of Arts in psychology (December 2017)

Currently pursuing a Master of Arts in marriage and family therapy at Regis University

McNair Project: Do Parental Relationships Make a Difference in Marijuana Use in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Emerging Adults? (2017)

Mentor: Jared Durtschi, Ph.D.

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) emerging adults often face additional stressors in their lives due to discrimination from friends, family, and culture (Balsam, Molina, & Lehavot, 2013). We used 1,268 adolescents longitudinally followed for seven years into emerging adulthood, drawn from Wave I and Wave III of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Emerging adults who identified as a sexual minority had significantly lower odds of using marijuana in the condition when they had a stronger relationship with their mother and significantly higher odds of using marijuana when they had a stronger relationship with their father. Implications are to work with LGB youth and their families to create strong, loving relationships between parents and children and finding other methods for LGB youth to cope with many stressors that they face.