ADDRESS:
School of Nursing
University at Buffalo
209 Wende Hall
Buffalo, NY 14214-3079
PHONE: 716-829-2608
EMAIL: ahequemb@buffalo.edu
Amy Hequembourg is an associate professor for the School of Nursing and has devoted her career to understanding the nature of health disparities among sexual and gender minoritized (SGM) populations. Her research has impacted the field of SGM health in several ways. First, she has identified risks associated with sexual victimization among cisgender sexual minority women, as well as providing insights into their unique post-assault disclosure and coping experiences. Second, she has contributed to an ever-expanding body of research that identifies and elucidates the unique health disparities experienced by bisexual women. Third, her ongoing work as a member of several interdisciplinary research teams seeks to expand knowledge about the link between alcohol use and violence among SGM individuals and within same-sex couples. Her current funded research examines mechanisms linking peer victimization and alcohol use among LGBTQ+ adolescents.
Hequembourg, A. Blayney, J., Jaffe, A., & Wang, W. (2025). Daily alcohol and cannabis use among sexual minoritized and heterosexual women. Psychology of Addictive Behavior. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0001062
Parrott, D. J., Shepard, C., Grom, J. L., Bonnesen, K., Jaffe, A. E., Blayney, J. A., Moino, K., & Hequembourg, A. (2024). Interactive effects of intersectional minority stress and adaptive coping on intimate partner violence perpetration in cisgender sexual and gender minoritized adults: An I3 model analysis. Psychology of Violence. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000582
Parrott, D., Leone, R. M., Hequembourg, A., Shorey, R. C., Eckhardt, C., & Stuart, G. L. (2024). An integrative model of alcohol-facilitated intimate partner aggression perpetration in sexual and gender diverse couples. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.24-00008
Kwon, M., Livingston, J. A., Wang, W., & Hequembourg, A. L. (2024). Longitudinal association between adolescent sexual identity and sleep quality: The mediating roles of peer victimization and perceived social support. Sleep Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2024.09.012.
Nye, C., Livingston, J., Foltz-Ramos, K., & Hequembourg, A. (2024). Undergraduate faculty knowledge, beliefs, and experiences with teaching LGBTQ+ content: A scoping review. Nurse Education Today, 54, 205-215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2024.07.010
Doerzbacher, M., Sperlich, M., Hequembourg, A., & Chang, Y. (2024). Longitudinal qualitative study of barriers and facilitators of breastfeeding in women on opioid maintenance therapy. Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing, 51(1), 29-40. https://doi:10.1016/j.jogn.2021.09.004
Bleasdale, J., McCole, M., Cole, K., Hequembourg, A., Morse, G. D., & Przybyla, S. M. (2024). Perspectives on injectable HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: A qualitative study of healthcare providers in the United States. AIDS Patient Care & STDs, 38(4). https://doi.org/10.1089/apc.2024.0001
Auerbach, S., Agbemenu, K., Lorenz, R., Hequembourg, A., & Ely, G. (2023). Contraceptive behavior in Appalachia: Exploring use, nonuse, and contraceptive attitudes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20, 6862. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20196862
Blayney, J. A., Jaffe, A. E., Hequembourg, A. L., & Parrott, D. J. (2023). Sexual victimization among sexual and gender minoritized groups: Recent research and future directions. Current Psychiatry Reports, 25(5), 183-191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-023-01420-0.
Parrott, D. J., Bresin, K., Hequembourg, A., Velia, B., Swartout, K., Stappenbeck, C., Masyn, K., & Grom, J. (2023). Dyadic effects of minority stress and problematic alcohol use on sexual intimate partner violence in same sex couples. Aggressive Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.22072
Nye, C. M., Livingston, J. A., & Hequembourg, A. (2023). Key considerations for conducting qualitative research with LGBTQ + youth. International Journal of LGBT Youth Studies, 22(1), 1-34. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2023.2253444.
Smith, A. U., Bostwick, W. B., Burke, L., Hequembourg, A. L., Santuzzi, A., & Hughes, T. L. (2023). How deep is the cut? The influence of daily microaggressions on bisexual women’s health. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 10(4), 535–548. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000556
Doerzbacher, M., Sperlich, M., Hequembourg, A., & Chang, Y. (2022). A scoping review of barriers and facilitators of breastfeeding in women on opioid maintenance therapy. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 51(1), 29-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jogn.2021.09.004
Smith, A., Bostwick, W., Hequembourg, A., Santuzzi, A., & Hughes, T. (2021). Microaggressions and health disparities among racially and ethnically diverse bisexual women. Journal of Bisexuality, 285-307. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2021.1991545
Davis, J., Hequembourg, A., & Paplham, P. (2021). School-based nurse practitioners’ perceptions of the health care needs of transgender and gender nonconforming adolescents. Journal of School Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1177/10598405211017125
Hequembourg, A., Livingston, J., & Wang, W. (2020). Prospective associations among relationship abuse, sexual harassment and bullying in a community sample of sexual minority and exclusively heterosexual youth. Journal of Adolescence, 83, 52-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.06.010
Hequembourg, A., Blayney, J., Bostwick, W., & Van Ryzin, M. (2020). Concurrent daily alcohol and tobacco use among sexual minority and heterosexual women. Substance Use & Abuse, 55(1), 66-78. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2019.1656252
Hequembourg, A., Blayney, J., Livingston, J. A., Bostwick, W., & Auerbach, S. (2019). A mixed methods investigation of victimization and coping among sexual minority compared to heterosexual women. Psychology & Sexuality, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2019.1678193
Bostwick, W., Berger, B., & Hequembourg, A. (2019). A mixed-method inquiry of bisexual identity centrality among racially and ethnically diverse women. Journal of Bisexuality, 19(2), 229-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2019.1617545
Hequembourg, A., & Panagakis, C. (2019). Maximizing respondent-driven sampling field procedures in the recruitment of sexual minorities for health research. Open Medicine, 7, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312119829983
Blayney, J., Hequembourg, A., & Livingston, J. (2018). Rape acknowledgement and sexual minority women’s mental health and drinking behaviors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(7-8). https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518781800
Term: 2021-2026
Role: Principle Investigator (with PI Jennifer Livingston; Co-I Craig Colder)
Funding Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Award Amount: $2,442,509
Abstract: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer or questioning, and those youth with other sexual minority identities (LGBQ+) report riskier alcohol use patterns than their heterosexual peers. This raises concerns that — like patterns found in the general population — early, risky alcohol use may strongly predict later alcohol problems and related deleterious health consequences (e.g., other substance abuse, victimization, poor physical and mental health) that contribute to health disparities among sexual minority adults. The harmful effects of peer victimization (PV; i.e. bullying and sexual harassment) on adolescent psychosocial functioning may be one pathway through which LGBQ+ youth become involved in high-risk alcohol use. In adolescence, heterosexist social norms are strongly enforced through bullying and homophobic sexual harassment. Alarmingly high numbers of LGBQ+ youth experience homophobic peer aggression. Such experiences can lead to internalized heterosexism and sexual minority stress. Sexual minority stress has been strongly associated with increased alcohol use across the lifespan in sexual minority populations. Cross-sectional studies have shown that PV is positively associated with alcohol and other substance use among LGBQ+ adolescents. However, the mechanisms through which PV contributes to negative outcomes and the protective factors that ameliorate those outcomes among LGBTQ+ youth are not well understood. Advances in understanding the effects of PV on LGBQ+ adolescents have been hampered by a dearth of longitudinal and mixed methods studies that include these youth in their samples. Using a mixed methods design, the proposed study will investigate the acute daily and longitudinal effects of PV on LGBQ+ adolescent risky alcohol use, as well as identify potential buffers and risk factors for these outcomes. Data from 500 adolescents (ages 15-17 years, 50% female gender identity, diverse racial composition) will be collected using four longitudinal surveys (baseline, 6-, 12, and 18-month follow-ups), two bursts of daily reports (4-weeks each), and qualitative interviews. Informed by sexual minority stress and psychological mediation theories, the proposed study aims to: (1) identify the psychosocial mechanisms linking PV with alcohol and other substance use among LGBQ+ youth; (2) understand the daily associations between PV and alcohol and substance use; and (3) examine the contexts in which LGBQ+ youth experience PV and gain insight into the psychosocial factors related to PV and substance use. The proposed study utilizes a novel integrative conceptual model that incorporates extant knowledge from research on PV and substance use conducted with heterosexual youth along with factors identified in the LGBQ+ literature, including sexual minority stress and the psychological mediation framework, to clarify the processes implicated in substance use by LGBQ+ youth. Results from this study are critically needed to understand the pathways, processes and contexts through which LGBQ+ adolescents become involved in high-risk alcohol use to inform the development of primary prevention programs that improve and preserve the health of LGBQ+ youth.
Term: 2023-2024
Role: Principle Investigator (with PI Jennifer Livingston; Co-I Craig Colder)
Funding Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Award Amount: $160,500
Abstract: Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth report significant health disparities compared to cisgender youth, including gender-based victimization, greater mental health symptoms (e.g., anxiety, depression, internalized stigma, suicide), and disproportionately higher rates of health risk taking behaviors (e.g., hazardous alcohol use, cigarette use, illicit drug use). Use of accurate and relevant terminology that distinguishes among individuals with diverse sexual and gender identities is critical to identifying TGD youth who are at heightened risk for such health disparities. In response to NOT-OD-23-046, the proposed administrative supplemental study seeks to: (a) test terminology for measuring current gender identity as part of the two-step process and suggest timely and relevant modifications, and (b) explore changes in TGD and cisgender youths’ interpretations of gender terminology and gender identification over time. The supplemental study will build on Co-PIs Hequembourg’s and Livingston’s ongoing R01 (AA028810-01A) study of the acute daily and longitudinal effects of peer victimization (PV) on sexual minoritized adolescents’ (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, + or LGBQ+) risky alcohol use and identification of protective factors. The proposed supplement will bolster and expedite the inclusion of sexual minoritized TGD youth (n = 75) for comparison with sexual minoritized cisgender youth (n=75) in the parent study. Gender identity will be assessed using the two-step process in surveys administered in two timepoints (baseline and 6-months) with these participants (N = 150). Additionally, two qualitative cognitive interviews (baseline, 6-months) will be conducted with a subsample of cisgender youth (n = 25) and TGD youth (n = 25) randomly selected from the survey participants to achieve the following aims: Aim 1 is to examine TGD and cisgender youths’ (n = 50, 25 each group) perceptions of the 2-step answer options and suggest modifications using a cognitive interviewing approach. Sources of confusion or ambiguity in the two- step answer options and suggestions for relevant modifications (i.e., “intersex,” “non-binary”) will be explored. The centrality of youths’ gender identity in their self-concept and its role in their perceptions of the two-step gender assessment options also will be examined. Aim 2 is to describe the implications of the two- step process in research with TGD sexual minoritized adolescents who are at a transitional developmental period featuring fluid gender (and sexual) identities. Descriptive patterns of gender identification measured over two time points using the two-step method will be captured via longitudinal surveys (baseline, 6- months) of TGD and cisgender youth (n = 75 each group). Cognitive interview (at 6-months) will explore youths’ perceptions (n = 25 each cis and TGD) of the effectiveness of two-step questions for capturing changes over time as well as patterns of gender identification among TGD and cisgender youth. A revised version of the two-step gender identity assessment will be developed based on participant feedback in the first interview; modifications will be explored for appropriateness with TGD LGBQ+ youth in interview 2.
Term: 2018-2023
Role: Co-Investigator (PI Dominic Parrott, Co-Is Masyn, Swartout)
Funding Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Award Amount: $2,507,736
Term: 2020-2022
Role: Co-Investigator (PI Dominic Parrott, Co-Is Masyn, Swartout, Stappenbeck)
Funding Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Award Amount: $303,806
Term: 2018-2020
Role: Multi-Principal Investigator (with PIs Rychtarik and McGillicudy)
Funding Source: Howard T. Blane Director’s Award for the Development of Research in Addictions
Award Amount: $24,715
Term: 2018–2019
Role: Co-Investigator (PI: Beedle [Leonard])
Funding Source: Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc. (Prime: SAMHSA)
Award Amount: $274,999
Term: 2015-2019
Role: Principal Investigator (Co-Investigators: Livingston and Collins)
Funding Source: National Institute of Justice
Award Amount: $581,916
Term: 2015-2018
Role: Co-Investigator (PI: Bostwick)
Funding Source: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Award Amount: $371, 583
Term: 2006-2011
Role: Principal Investigator (Mentors: R. Lorraine Collins, Kathleen Parks, Michael Frone)
Funding Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Award Amount: $522,280