Drinking alcohol is on the decline among B.C. teens — but not as much for teens who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, according to a new study from the University of British Columbia, .

The study results come from data collected from the B.C. Adolescent Health Survey which has surveyed students in grades 7 to 12 on various health questions across B.C. every five years since 1998.

UBC nursing professor Elizabeth Saewyc, the study's lead author, says the good news is teen drinking has decreased overall.

"The fact that it's going down for everybody suggests some of what we're doing in schools and communities, trying to delay the onset of alcohol use and [advocate] responsible drinking is having an effect," she said.

However, her team has identified a persistent gap between straight students and those who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual (note: trans was not a category explicitly captured in survey data).

The LGB teens tend to drink at higher rates, regardless of gender.

(University of British Columbia)

She said one reason may be strategies used to decrease teen drinking aren't effectively reaching LGB students.

(University of British Columbia)

Historically, she said, LGB teens have had higher rates of alcohol use than straight youth, due to stigma and stress.

"There's definitely a piece of using alcohol for coping," she said. "And certainly one of the things we've seen over the years is [alcohol use] linked to stigma and discrimination, bullying in school, [and] homophobic bullying."

One way of reducing the gap could be improving in-school supports for LGB youth like creating gender and sexuality alliances (GSAs) and implementing inclusive policies, she said.

"Kids who have high levels of family support and high levels of school connectedness and kids in schools who have GSAs and inclusive policies all have lower odds of drinking and problem drinking."

The paper detailing the findings was published Wednesday in the scientific journal Addiction.

With files from The Early Edition