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Recent Incarceration and Other Correlates of Psychological Distress Among African American and Latino Men Who Have Sex with Men

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Abstract

There is a dearth of research on the intersection of incarceration and psychological distress among men who have sex with men including African American (AAMSM) and Latino MSM (LMSM), populations which bear a large burden of HIV in the U.S. Recent incarceration is an important context to examine psychological distress given the critical implications it has on health outcomes. Using baseline data from the Latino and African American Men’s Project (LAAMP), a multi-site randomized HIV behavioral intervention trial, this paper examined the association between previous incarceration within the past three months (i.e., recent incarceration) and psychological distress in the past four weeks, assessed by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). Among 1482 AAMSM and LMSM (AAMSM: 911, LMSM: 571), we found 768 (52%) were previously incarcerated, but not in past three months and 138 (9.3%) had been recently incarcerated. After adjusting for race, education, access to resources, current living arrangement, HIV status, and substance use, participants who had been recently incarcerated were more likely to have mild psychological distress i.e., K10 score 20–24 (aRRR:1.43, 95% CI 1.20, 1.71) or severe psychological distress, i.e., K10 score > 30 (aRRR: 1.89, 95% CI 1.22, 2.93) in the past four weeks than those never incarcerated and those previously incarcerated, but not in past three months. Our findings have implications for mental health and HIV prevention services for AAMSM and LMSM with previous incarceration within the past three months.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the cooperative agreements between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (5UR6PS000355-035UR6PS000437-03, 5UR6PS000434-03, 5UR6PS000429-03, 5UR6PS000433-03, 5UR6PS000425-02).

Funding

This research was supported by the cooperative agreements between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (5UR6PS000355-035UR6PS000437-03, 5UR6PS000434-03, 5UR6PS000429-03, 5UR6PS000433-03, 5UR6PS000425-02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Morgan State University, 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane, Jenkins Building, Room 334, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jordan J. White

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

    Jordan J. White, Carl A. Latkin & Cui Yang

  3. Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

    Nickolas D. Zaller

  4. College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

    M. Isabel Fernandez

  5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Pilgrim Spikes & Stephen Flores

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The first author conceptualized the study and led all aspects of manuscript development. Each author provided review and revisions of the initial manuscript to produce the final manuscript. All authors have approved the final article. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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White, J.J., Zaller, N.D., Fernandez, M.I. et al. Recent Incarceration and Other Correlates of Psychological Distress Among African American and Latino Men Who Have Sex with Men. Community Ment Health J 58, 624–632 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-021-00864-z

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