Facebook network structure and awareness of preexposure prophylaxis among young men who have sex with men

Abstract

Young Black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) are the only population in the U.S. who have experienced rising HIV incidence over the past decade. Consistent preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use can substantially reduce the risk of HIV acquisition. What differentiates those who become aware of PrEP, and those who do not, remains largely unknown. The social networks of YBMSM can impact their awareness of PrEP; to examine this impact, we used two waves of Facebook data from the “uConnect” study – a longitudinal cohort study of YBMSM in Chicago (n=266). While PrEP awareness increased from 45% at baseline to 75% at follow-up, its use remained low (4% and 6%). There were 88 PrEP-unaware individuals at baseline who became aware (BA) by follow-up, and 56 who remained persistently unaware (PU). While the PUs had a higher median number of total Facebook friends, the BAs had a higher median numbers of friends who participated in uConnect, who were PrEP-aware, and who practiced behaviors previously found to be associated with individual-level awareness of PrEP at baseline. The BAs also had substantially more “influential” friends. These findings demonstrate the potential of social networks in raising PrEP awareness and use among YBMSM.

Exposure to community violence and substance use among Black men who have sex with men: examining the role of psychological distress and criminal justice involvement

“…Data were collected as part of a study that investigated the impact of social networks on the drug and sexual risk behaviors of YBMSM. Detailed descriptions of sampling, recruitment, and data collection have been previously published (Khanna, Schumm, & Schneider, 2017). Briefly, respondent driven sampling (RDS) (Heckathorn, 1997;Magnani, Sabin, Saidel, & Heckathorn, 2005) was used to recruit a sample of YBMSM from majority Black neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago between June 2013 and July 2014.…”

The Social Context of HIV Prevention and Care among Black Men Who Have Sex with Men in Three U.S. Cities: The Neighborhoods and Networks (N2) Cohort Study

“…In addition, research has found that a greater family network proportion (i.e., having two or more family members in one’s close network) was associated with less frequent participation in group sex [36]. Other network studies have also found that specific structural positions within networks of young Black MSM were associated with HIV serostatus [37] and PrEP knowledge [38], and exhibit high degrees of homophily (i.e., persons are likely to form connections with others who share similar characteristics including socioeconomic status, values, beliefs, or attitudes) in terms of HIV status and sexual risk behaviors [35,39]. Further, young Black MSM exhibit a high turnover of their social networks [40], particularly around criminal justice involvement [41].…”

Use of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in Young Men Who Have Sex with Men is Associated with Race, Sexual Risk Behavior and Peer Network Size

“…Recent studies have estimated that <10% of YMSM have ever used PrEP (5–7). To date, various factors have been associated with PrEP awareness among YMSM, including greater education and income (7), healthcare access, and social network factors (6, 8); while PrEP uptake among YMSM has been associated with greater income (5) and indicators of sexual risk (5, 7). Among all adults, as well as adult men who have sex with men (MSM), some evidence suggests that uptake differs by race.…”