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Examining the Effects of Transphobic Discrimination and Race on HIV Risk Among Transwomen in San Francisco

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Abstract

Transwomen, in particular transwomen of color (TWOC), are among the most vulnerable populations at risk for HIV. This secondary analysis is organized using a gender minority stress framework to examine the effects of transphobic discrimination and race on HIV risk factors. We describe the sample of 149 HIV- adult transwomen in San Francisco and use binary logistic regression to examine the relationship between levels of transphobic discrimination and TWOC status on binge drinking and condomless receptive anal intercourse (CRAI), controlling for potential confounders. Those with high levels of transphobic discrimination had 3.59 fold greater odds of engaging in binge drinking compared to those who reported a low level of transphobic discrimination (95% CI 1.284–10.034; P = 0.015). TWOC had nearly threefold greater odds of CRAI compared to white transwomen (95% CI 1.048–8.464; P = 0.040). We discuss implications for gender minority stress research and future interventions for this population.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all participants in the study. This study’s funding source had no role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. SA led the development of the manuscript, conducted the statistical analysis, and conceived the data analysis plan. HRF and ECW contributed to the manuscript development.

Funding

Sean Arayasirikul was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Graduate Research Training on Alcohol Problems (T32AA007240).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Suite #455, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA

    Sean Arayasirikul

  2. Center for Public Health Research, San Francisco Department of Public Health, 25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA, 94102, USA

    Sean Arayasirikul, Erin C. Wilson & Henry F. Raymond

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA

    Erin C. Wilson & Henry F. Raymond

Authors
  1. Sean Arayasirikul
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  2. Erin C. Wilson
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  3. Henry F. Raymond
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sean Arayasirikul.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Research involving human participants and/or animals

All study procedures were approved by the IRB at the University of California, San Francisco. We have also included supporting statements before the References section to reaffirm ethical conduct of this research study.

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Arayasirikul, S., Wilson, E.C. & Raymond, H.F. Examining the Effects of Transphobic Discrimination and Race on HIV Risk Among Transwomen in San Francisco. AIDS Behav 21, 2628–2633 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1728-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1728-3

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