Sexual minority women and sober curiosity

As the third leading risk factor for poor health globally, harmful alcohol consumption is a major public health concern. Growing evidence has documented that sexual minority women (SMW) are a group at highest risk for hazardous drinking due to minority stressors, drinking cultures and social norms. Unfortunately, there has been almost no attention to alcohol interventions among SMW, creating a major gap in knowledge about strategies to enable sustained reductions in consumption. Sober curiosity is a wellness movement that emphasizes mindful drinking and the benefits of reducing or stopping alcohol consumption. This movement is growing rapidly, and challenges the idea that specific social contexts require alcohol. For SMW who drink at harmful levels, leveraging the sober curious movement has potential to reduce sexual orientation-related health disparities related to hazardous drinking. The proposed project uses a mixed methods approach to understand SMW drinking behaviours in Scotland, encompassing multiple focus groups with SMW who drink, leading to an online survey. This study is an international collaboration, and feeds into similar work being conducted in the US which will allow cross-cultural exploration of SMW drinking and perceptions of sober curiosity.