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Network Structure and the Risk for HIV Transmission Among Rural Drug Users

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Abstract

Research suggests that structural properties of drug users’ social networks can have substantial effects on HIV risk. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the structural properties of Appalachian drug users’ risk networks could lend insight into the potential for HIV transmission in this population. Data from 503 drug users recruited through respondent-driven sampling were used to construct a sociometric risk network. Network ties represented relationships in which partners had engaged in unprotected sex and/or shared injection equipment. Compared to 1,000 randomly generated networks, the observed network was found to have a larger main component and exhibit more cohesiveness and centralization than would be expected at random. Thus, the risk network structure in this sample has many structural characteristics shown to be facilitative of HIV transmission. This underscores the importance of primary prevention in this population and prompts further investigation into the epidemiology of HIV in the region.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA024598).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral Science, Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 333 Waller Avenue, Lexington, KY, 40504, USA

    A. M. Young, U. L. Mullins & J. R. Havens

  2. Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA, USA

    A. M. Young

  3. LINKS Center for Social Network Analysis, Gatton College of Business and Economics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    A. B. Jonas & D. S. Halgin

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  1. A. M. Young
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  2. A. B. Jonas
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Correspondence to J. R. Havens.

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Young, A.M., Jonas, A.B., Mullins, U.L. et al. Network Structure and the Risk for HIV Transmission Among Rural Drug Users. AIDS Behav 17, 2341–2351 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-012-0371-2

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