Exploring Factors That Underlie Racial/Ethnic Disparities in HIV Risk among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men

Abstract

Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are among the highest risk groups for HIV, and the risk distribution varies by race/ethnicity. Prevalence rates are consistently higher for minority YMSM. Factors underlying these disparities are poorly understood. We examined disparities in HIV risk among a community-based sample of Black, Latino, and non-Hispanic Caucasian YMSM age 16-24. To address gaps in the literature, we examined factors between and within racial/ethnic groups across domains including: sexual and substance use behaviors, sexualized and other social contexts, psychological well-being, HIV attributes and prevention skills, and sexual minority stress.

Exploring the Validity and Statistical Utility of a Racism Scale Among Black Men Who Have Sex With Men

“…Comparatively, in Model 2, because there is a dearth of research related to psychological well-being and intimate relationships among Black MSM, somewhat surprisingly psychological distress accounted for a notable portion of the unique variance in relationships and racism. For some of the men, nonetheless, the finding suggests that psychological distress could have been manifested as an outcome of intra-and intergroup racial prejudice and discrimination confronted while seeking sexual or emotional relationships with other men (e.g., Garofalo, Mustanski, Johnson, & Emerson, 2010;. Similar to psychological distress, age accounted for a significant portion of the unique variance in each of the racism latent variables in Models 1 and 2.…”

Syndemic Health Disparities and Resilience Processes Related to HIV Transmission Risk among African American/Black Men in South Florida

“…In fact previous research shows that in addition to substance dependence problems and increased sexual risk behavior, African American/Black MSM also experience more frequent and severe consequences of drug and alcohol use than do Caucasian/White MSM, leading to health disparities such as poorer physical health, increased likelihood of incarceration, and higher rates of other factors, such as victimization and gang involvement (Garofalo et al 2010;Harawa et al 2008;Mays et al 2004). …”

“…Syndemic Health Disparities among African American/Black MSM A brief review of the literature on African American/Black MSM demonstrates the presence of health and social disparities related to substance use (Harawa et al 2008;Mimiaga et al 2010;Hatfield et al, 2009;Tobin et al 2011), HIV transmission or infection risk (Millett et al 2006;Millett et al 2007;Oster et al 2011), arrest history (Lim et al 2011), inadequate coping skills and social support (Kraft et al 2000;Shoptaw et al 2009), and social or cultural barriers Saleh et al 2011;Garofalo et al 2010;Harawa et al 2008;Haile et al 2011), among others. Whereas, one apparent article in the literature has addressed these concerns from a syndemic perspective (Dyer et al 2012) it was unable to address any larger socio-cultural or structural factors that contribute the specific health disparities among this population.…”

“…Whereas, one apparent article in the literature has addressed these concerns from a syndemic perspective (Dyer et al 2012) it was unable to address any larger socio-cultural or structural factors that contribute the specific health disparities among this population. While research among racial/ethnic minority MSM should be made a priority Dyer et al 2012), an understanding of racial/ethnic health disparities should involve inquiry beyond individual risk behaviors (Garofalo et al 2010). Thus, a significant gap in the literature remains that fails to address these larger structural factors that are a determining factor in the health of African American/Black MSM.…”

“…Although substance use is not significantly greater overall among African American/Black MSM than among other MSM (Millet et al 2006;Shoptaw et al 2009), in the last few years, several studies have found that African American/Black men report more powder and crack cocaine use than White or Latino MSM (Hatfield et al 2009;Tobin et al 2011). African American/Black MSM also experience more frequent and severe consequences of drug and alcohol use than do White MSM, leading to health disparities such as poorer physical health and increased likelihood of incarceration (Harawa et al 2008), in addition to higher rates of other health and social risk disparities such as victimization and gang involvement, as compared to other MSM (Garofalo et al 2010;Mays et al 2004). …”