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Freedom as Prevention: Mechanisms of Autonomy Support for Promoting HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Use and Condom Use among Black MSM in 3 US Cities—HPTN 073

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Abstract

Healthcare providers who use controlling or coercive strategies may compel short-term enactment of HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevention behaviors but may inadvertently undermine their client’s motivation to maintain those behaviors in the absence of external pressure. Autonomous motivation refers to the self-emanating and self-determined drive for engaging in health behaviors. It is associated with long-term maintenance of health behaviors. We used structural equation modeling to investigate whether autonomy support was associated with increased odds of therapeutic serum levels of pre-exposure prophylaxis, through a pathway that satisfies basic psychological needs for autonomous self-regulation and competence regarding pre-exposure prophylaxis use. We also investigated whether autonomy support was associated with decreased odds of condomless anal intercourse via the same psychological needs-satisfaction pathway of autonomous self-regulation and competence regarding condom use. We tested these two theorized pathways using secondary data from a longitudinal sample of Black men who have sex with men from across three cities in the US (N = 226). Data from the sample fit the theorized models regarding the pathways by which autonomy support leads to the presence of therapeutic PrEP levels in serum (χ2 = 0.56; RMSEA = 0.04; CFI = .99, TLI = 0.98) and how it also leads to decreased odds of condomless anal intercourse (χ2 = 0.58; RMSEA = 0.03; CFI = 0.99; TLI = 0.98). These findings provide scientific evidence for the utility of self-determination theory as a model to guide intervention approaches to optimize the implementation and impact of PrEP for Black men who have sex with men.

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Acknowledgements

Overall support for the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) is provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award Numbers UM1AI068619 (HPTN Leadership and Operations Center), UM1AI068617 (HPTN Statistical and Data Management Center), and UM1AI068613 (HPTN Laboratory Center). Additional support was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health, of the National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services. This was also made possible by core services and support provided by the Yale University Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (P30 MH062294) and the Yale Research Education Institute for Diverse Scholars (R25 MH087271).

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Correspondence to LaRon E. Nelson.

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The first author was neither involved in the recruitment of study participants nor in obtaining their informed consent. C4TM is a trademark of tuliptree systems, LLC. The first author is a shareholder and officer of tuliptree systems, LLC.

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Nelson, L.E., Boyd, D.T., Beauchamp, G. et al. Freedom as Prevention: Mechanisms of Autonomy Support for Promoting HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Use and Condom Use among Black MSM in 3 US Cities—HPTN 073. J Urban Health 99, 1157–1169 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-022-00666-y

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