Access and Barriers to Health Services Among Sexual and Gender Minority College Students

College is a vital time to address mental health and substance use, especially among at-risk populations like sexual and gender minority (SGM) students. The current study compared patterns of mental health symptoms and substance use, access to corresponding resources, and endorsed barriers to accessing services between SGM and non-SGM college students. Data came from 1,892 college students throughout Oregon (72.7% female; 3.6% gender minority [GM]; 21.5% sexual minority [SM]; age 18–60 years old) who completed an online survey about their sexual and gender identity, mental health and substance use symptoms, utilization of campus services, and barriers to accessing such services. Continuous and dichotomous outcomes were compared between SGM subgroups using multiple linear and logistic regressions, respectively, adjusting for sex assigned at birth, year of studies, and race/ethnicity. SGM students reported significantly higher levels of psychological distress than non-SGM counterparts (ps < .05). Compared with non-SM individuals, bi/pansexual students demonstrated greater odds of marijuana use (p < .001) and misuse of prescription drugs (p < .05). Compared with non-SGM students, GM, bi/pansexual, and asexual/different SM identity students had greater odds of using on-campus psychological services (ps < .001). Among those who did not use any services, SGM students reported more barriers to obtaining these services than their non-SGM counterparts. SGM students exhibited disparities in psychological distress, some substance use outcomes, and barriers to obtain services on campus. These findings substantiate the need for additional supports for SGM students’ mental health and substance use on college campuses. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)