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A Longitudinal Examination of Factors Associated with Network Bridging Among YMSM: Implications for HIV Prevention

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Abstract

Social-environmental factors may be associated with social network stability, which has implications for HIV acquisition. However, the link between social-environmental factors, network composition and HIV risk has not been examined previously among a city-population based sample of young Black men who have sex with Men (YBMSM). Respondent driven sampling was used to recruit a cohort of 618 YMBSM. Respondents were evaluated at baseline, 9 and 18 months beginning June 2013. A logistic regression model was used to assess the relationship between bridging (i.e. having non-redundant contacts in one’s network, indicating network instability) and social-environmental factors and HIV risk factors between respondents, and a conditional logit model was used to assess these relationships within respondents over time. Bridging was associated with adverse social-environmental factors and higher HIV risk, indicating that bridging may be on the explanatory pathway. Future studies should assess the extent to which network stability factors mitigate HIV risk.

Resumen

Los factores socio-ambientales pueden estar asociados con la estabilidad de la red social, la cual tiene implicaciones para la adquisición del VIH. Sin embargo, el vínculo entre los factores socio-ambientales, la composición de la red y el riesgo de VIH no ha sido estudiado previamente entre una muestra de población urbana de hombres afro-americanos que tienen sexo con hombres (YBMSM). Se utilizó un muestreo dirigido por los entrevistados para reclutar una cohorte de 618 YMBSM. Los encuestados fueron evaluados al inicio, 9 y 18 meses a partir de junio del 2013. Se utilizó un modelo de regresión logística para evaluar la relación entre el puente (es decir, tener contactos no redundantes en la red de uno, indicando inestabilidad de la red) y factores socio-ambientales y de riesgo de VIH entre los encuestados a lo largo del tiempo. Los puentes fueron asociados con factores socio-ambientales adversos y un riesgo mayor de VIH, indicando que los puentes pueden estar en la vía explicativa. Los estudios futuros deberían evaluar la medida en qué los factores de estabilidad de la red mitigan el riesgo de VIH.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the uConnect study participants for the time they contributed to this study. We would also like to thank staff for the collection of the data as well as Stuart Michaels, Phil Schumm, Samuel R. Friedman, Lindsay E. Young, Ethan Morgan, Aditya Khanna, and Nicola Lancki for their contributions. Thank you to Maria Luisa Mittal for translating the abstract into Spanish. This work received funding from the National Institutes of Health grants R01 DA039934, R01 DA033875, T32 HS000084, T32 AI738426, R01AI118422-01, MED4505, MED7793 as well as the University of Chicago, Biological Sciences Division, Office of Diversity & Inclusion. The funding sources did not have involvement in the development of this work.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health Grants R01 DA039934, R01 DA033875, T32 HS000084, T32 AI738426, R01AI118422-01, MED4505, MED7793 as well as the University of Chicago, Biological Sciences Division, Office of Diversity & Inclusion. The funding sources did not have involvement in the development of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of California-San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Britt Skaathun

  2. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Britt Skaathun, Diane S. Lauderdale & John A. Schneider

  3. School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Dexter R. Voisin

  4. Department of Sociology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Benjamin Cornwell

  5. Chicago Center for HIV Elimination, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Britt Skaathun, Dexter R. Voisin & John A. Schneider

  6. Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    John A. Schneider

  7. STI/HIV Intervention Network, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Dexter R. Voisin & John A. Schneider

  8. University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gillman Dr., La Jolla, CA, 92093-0507, USA

    Britt Skaathun

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  1. Britt Skaathun
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Correspondence to Britt Skaathun.

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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.

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

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Skaathun, B., Voisin, D.R., Cornwell, B. et al. A Longitudinal Examination of Factors Associated with Network Bridging Among YMSM: Implications for HIV Prevention. AIDS Behav 23, 1326–1338 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2258-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2258-3

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