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Individual and Social Network Factors Associated with High Self-efficacy of Communicating about Men’s Health Issues with Peers among Black MSM in an Urban Setting

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Abstract

Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) bear a disproportionate burden of HIV in the USA. BMSM face stigma, discrimination and barriers to health care access, and utilization. Peers (male or female) may assist BMSM in navigating their health issues by engaging in communication to support in their health care needs. Individuals with high self-efficacy of communicating about men’s health issues with peers can be trained as community popular opinion leaders (CPOLs) to change peer behaviors by promoting risk reduction communication. We examined the characteristics associated with high self-efficacy of communicating with peers about men’s health issues among 256 BMSM from a behavioral HIV intervention conducted in Baltimore, Maryland. In the multivariate logistic model, gay identity (AOR: 2.10, 95% CI: 1.15,3.83), involvement in the house and ballroom community (AOR: 2.50, 95% CI: 1.14,5.49), larger number of network members who are living with HIV (AOR: 6.34, 95% CI: 1.48,27.11), and larger number of network members who would loan them money (AOR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.05,2.03) were statistically significantly associated with high self-efficacy of communicating with peers about men’s health issues. We also found that having depressive symptoms (AOR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.24, 0.77) was negatively associated with high self-efficacy of communicating with peers about men’s health issues. Findings from the current study can inform future studies to identify better CPOLs who are able to communicate effectively with peers about men’s health issues for BMSM.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by R01DA031030 from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, R01MD013495 from the National Institute on Minority Health and Heath Disparities, R34MH116725 from the National Institute of Mental Health.

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  1. Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jordan J. White & Chris Beyrer

  2. Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Cui Yang, Karin E. Tobin & Carl A. Latkin

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White, J.J., Yang, C., Tobin, K.E. et al. Individual and Social Network Factors Associated with High Self-efficacy of Communicating about Men’s Health Issues with Peers among Black MSM in an Urban Setting. J Urban Health 97, 668–678 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-020-00458-2

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