100 research outputs found
Substance Use Disorders, Violence, Mental Health, and HIV: Differentiating a Syndemic Factor by Gender and Sexuality
This paper measures syndemic substance use disorder, violence, and mental health and compares the syndemic among HIV-infected heterosexual men, heterosexual women, and men who have sex with men (MSM). Data were from a sample of high needs substance-using, HIV-infected people in South Florida between 2010 and 2012 (n = 481). We used confirmatory factor analysis to measure a syndemic latent variable and applied measurement invariance models to identify group differences in the data structure of syndemic co-morbidities among heterosexual men, heterosexual women, and MSM. We found that variables used to measure the syndemic fit each sub-group, supporting that substance use disorder, violence, and mental health coincide in HIV-infected individuals. Heterosexual men and MSM demonstrated similar syndemic latent variable factor loadings, but significantly different item intercepts, indicating that heterosexual men had larger mean values on substance use disorder, anxiety, and depression than MSM. Heterosexual men and heterosexual women demonstrated significantly different syndemic variable factor loadings, indicating that anxiety and depression contribute more (and substance use contributes less) to the syndemic in heterosexual men compared to heterosexual women. MSM and heterosexual women demonstrated similar syndemic latent variable factor loadings and intercepts, but had significantly different factor residual variances indicating more variance in violent victimization and depression for MSM and more variance in stress for heterosexual women than what is captured by the observed syndemic indicators. Furthermore, heterosexual women had a larger syndemic factor mean than MSM, indicating that the syndemic burden is greater among heterosexual women than MSM. Our findings support that measurement invariance can elucidate differences in the syndemic to tailor interventions to sub-group needs
Collective efficacy and HIV Prevention in South African Townships
South African townships have high HIV prevalence and a strong need for collective action to
change normative sexual risk behaviors. This study investigated the relationship between
perceptions of individuals about collective efficacy in the community’s ability to prevent HIV and
their personal HIV risk behaviors. Men (n=1581) and women (n=718) completed anonymous
surveys within four Black African Townships in Cape Town, South Africa from June 2008 to
December 2010. Measures included demographics, alcohol use, attitudinal and behavioral norms,
sexual health communications, and sexual risk behaviors. In multivariate logistic regressions, men
were more likely to endorse collective efficacy if they were married, drank less often in alcohol
serving establishments, believed that fewer men approve of HIV risk behaviors, talk more with
others about HIV/AIDS, and had more sex partners in the past month. Women were more likely to
endorse collective efficacy if they drank alcohol less often, talked more with others about HIV/
AIDS, had more sex partners in the past month, but reported fewer unprotected sex acts in the past
month. Community level interventions that strengthen collective efficacy beliefs will have to
consider both protective and risk behaviors associated with believing that the community is ready
and capable of preventing HIV.Department of HE and Training approved lis
“Outness” as a Moderator of the Association Between Syndemic Conditions and HIV Risk-Taking Behavior Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Tijuana, Mexico
Hombre Seguro(Safe Men): a sexual risk reduction intervention for male clients of female sex workers
Buffering Syndemic Effects in a Sexual Risk-Reduction Intervention for Male Clients of Female Sex Workers: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial.
Perceived Stigma of Purchasing Sex Among Latino and Non-Latino Male Clients of Female Sex Workers in Tijuana, Mexico
Mood, Meth, Condom Use, and Gender: Latent Growth Curve Modeling Results from a Randomized Trial.
Factors associated with program effectiveness in the implementation of a sexual risk reduction intervention for female sex workers across Mexico: Results from a randomized trial.
Using Novel Approaches to Evaluate Behavioral Interventions: Overlooked Significant HIV Prevention Effects in the HPTN 015 Project EXPLORE
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