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Objective To test a novel social network HIV risk reduction intervention for MSM in Russia and Hungary, where same-sex behavior is stigmatized and men may best be reached through their social network connections. Design A 2-arm trial with 18 sociocentric networks of MSM randomized to the social network intervention or standard HIV/STD testing/counseling. Setting St. Petersburg, Russia and Budapest, Hungary. Participants 18 “seeds” from community venues invited the participation of their MSM friends who, in turn, invited their own MSM friends into the study, a process that continued outward until eighteen 3-ring sociocentric networks (mean size=35 members, n=626) were recruited. Intervention Empirically-identified network leaders were trained and guided to convey HIV prevention advice to other network members. Main Outcome and Measures Changes in sexual behavior from baseline to 3- and 12-month followup, with composite HIV/STD incidence measured at 12-months to corroborate behavior changes. Results There were significant reductions between baseline, first followup, and second followup in the intervention versus comparison arm for proportion of men engaging in any unprotected anal intercourse (P=.04); UAI with a nonmain partner (P=.04); and UAI with multiple partners (P=.002). The mean percentage of unprotected AI acts significantly declined (P=.001), as well as the mean number of UAI acts among men who initially had multiple partners (P=.05). Biological HIV/STD incidence was 15% in comparison condition networks and 9% in intervention condition networks. Conclusions Even where same-sex behavior is stigmatized, it is possible to reach MSM and deliver HIV prevention through their social networks.

This study recruited four sociocentric networks (n = 156) of men who have sex with men in Budapest, Hungary, and St. Petersburg, Russia. The sampling approach was based on identifying an initial "seed" in the community for each network, and then recruiting three successive friendship group waves out from the seed. HIV prevalence in the networks was 9%, and the composite rate of other sexually transmitted diseases was 6%. 57% of participants reported both main and casual male partners, and two thirds reported unprotected anal intercourse in the past 3 months. Fifty-five percent of men's most recent anal intercourse acts were with nonexclusive partners, and 56% of most recent anal intercourse acts were unprotected. Sexual risk predictors were generally consistent with behavioral science theory. In addition, risk was associated with more often talking with friends about AIDS, higher ecstasy use, and less often drinking. Sociocentric social network sampling approaches are feasible and constitute a modality for reaching hidden high-risk populations inaccessible through conventional methods.Almost unknown during the socialist era, the HIV epidemic in parts of central and eastern Europe quickly accelerated beginning in the mid-1990s. Although HTV primarily first affected injection drug users (IDUs) in post-Soviet countries, transmission has shifted to a predominantly sexual pattern (UNAIDS, 2008). In spite of the rapid emergence of HIV in the region, there has been comparatively little published research on risk behavior as well as HIV/ STD prevalence in postsocialist countries. Men who have sex with men (MSM) remain among the world's most vulnerable populations, and research is needed to identify HIV risk behavior patterns and their determinants among MSM in eastern Europe. In addition, innovative NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript approaches need to be tested that can access those MSM community segments likely to be missed using conventional sampling methods.The appearance of the HIV epidemic in eastern Europe coincided with massive political, economic, and cultural transitions across the region. These included the breakup of the former Soviet Union and the appearance of new and sometimes fragile democracies in other former socialist countries. These transformations also resulted in fewer authoritarian controls, more personal freedoms including greater travel opportunities, liberalized sexual behaviors and norms, and increased drug use. In the context of these changes and given a weak public health infrastructure, intertwined HIV and sexually transmitted disease (STD) epidemics quickly emerged in many of the region's countries (Borisenko, Tichonova, & Renton, 1999), Russia and Ukraine are among the countries hardest hit by the HIV epidemic, with a more gradual rise in central Europe. UNAIDS estimates that 940,000 in Russia and 3,000 in Hungary, a much smaller country (UNAIDS, 2008).During the socialist era, homosexuality was officially proscribed, and there were few pub...

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Editorial boards play a key role in the production, dissemination, and promotion of scientific knowledge. The cross-presence of scholars in different journals, known as editorial board interlocking, maps the connections between such bodies of governance. Former research on this topic is typically restricted to individual disciplines and has failed to consider the relevance of potential interlocking between related, but different academic fields. Further, although existing studies note a significant lack of diversity in editorial board representation, they mainly focus on a single dimension, such as gender or geography. This study addressed these knowledge gaps by offering a complex cross-disciplinary approach to the geographical, gender, and institutional compositions of editorial boards, with a specific emphasis on within- and between-fields editorial board interlocking. We used graph and social network analysis to examine editorial board connections between 281 top journals (13,084 members and 17,092 connections) of six disciplines: communication, psychology, political science, sociology, economics, and management. We found substantial differences in terms of field connections, ranging from sociology with 42% interlocking with other fields, to management with only 11%. Psychology is significantly less connected to the other five disciplines. The results also show a clear overrepresentation of American institutions and native English-speaking countries in all fields, with Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and New York University forming a well-connected central cluster. Although female scholars are underrepresented, there are no significant differences in terms of positioning in the network. Female scholars are even employed in more central positions than male scholars in psychology, sociology, and management. Our findings extend the literature on editorial board diversity by evidencing a significant imbalance in their gender, geographical, institutional representation, and interlocking editorship both within and between fields.