June 7, 2011 -- High school students who identify as being gay, lesbian, or bisexual are more likely than heterosexual students to smoke, drink alcohol, use drugs, and take part in violent and suicidal behaviors, a CDC survey shows.

CDC researchers analyzed survey results from about 156,000 high school students.

"This report should be a wake-up call for families, schools, and communities that we need to do a much better job of supporting these young people," Howard Wechsler, EdD, MPH, of the CDC, says in a news release. "Any effort to promote adolescent health and safety must take into account the additional stressors these youth experience because of their sexual orientation, such as stigma, discrimination and victimization."

The study is the first time the federal government has conducted an analysis of such a large magnitude and across a wide array of states, large urban school districts, and risk behaviors.

The gay, lesbian, or bisexual students reported having sexual contact only with people of the same sex or both sexes. The heterosexual students reported having sex only with members of the opposite sex.

The study of data for the years 2001-2009 was published as a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance summary.