Published in:
01-05-2019 | Original Paper
A Longitudinal Examination of Factors Associated with Network Bridging Among YMSM: Implications for HIV Prevention
Authors:
Britt Skaathun, Dexter R. Voisin, Benjamin Cornwell, Diane S. Lauderdale, John A. Schneider
Published in:
AIDS and Behavior
|
Issue 5/2019
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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.