Social capital and HIV/AIDS in the United States: Knowledge, gaps, and future directions

Abstract

PurposeSocial capital is a well-established predictor of several behavioral health outcomes. However, we know less about the relationship with prevention, transmission, and treatment of HIV/AIDS outcomes in the United States (US).MethodsIn 2017, we conducted a scoping review of empirical studies investigating the relationships between social capital and HIV/AIDS in the US by searching PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Sociological Abstracts with no restriction on publication date, for articles in English language. Sample search terms included: HIV infections OR HIV OR AIDS OR acquired immunodeficiency syndrome OR human immunodeficiency virus AND social capital OR social control, informal OR social participation OR social cohesion OR generalized trust OR social trust OR collective efficacy OR community mob* OR civic participation.ResultsWe identified 1581 unique manuscripts and reviewed 13 based on eligibility criteria. The earliest eligible study was published in 2003. More than half (n=7/13) focused on HIV or AIDS diagnosis, then prescribing ART and/or adherence (n=5/13), then linkage and or engagement in HIV care (n=4/13). Fifty eight percent (58%) documented a protective association between at least one social capital measure and an HIV/AIDS outcome. Seven studies used validated social capital scales, however there was substantial variation in conceptual/operational definitions and measures used. Most studies were based on samples from the Northeast. Three studies directly focused on or stratified analyses among subgroups or key populations. Studies were cross-sectional, so causal inference is unknown.ConclusionOur review suggests that social capital may be an important determinant of HIV/AIDS prevention, transmission, and treatment outcomes. We recommend future research assess these associations using qualitative and mixed-methods approaches, longitudinally, examine differences across subgroups and geographic region, include a wider range of social capital constructs, and examine indicators beyond HIV diagnosis, as well as how mechanisms like stigma link social capital to HIV/AIDS.

Social capital and health: A systematic review of systematic reviews

“…1. Almost all of the included reviews were systematic reviews, but we also included what authors self-described as a scoping review (Ransome et al, 2018) and an interdisciplinary review (Almedom, 2005), as they had comprehensive search strategies and met our inclusion criteria. Three different reviews conducted a meta-analysis in addition to their systematic review (Choi et al, 2014; Gilbert, Quinn, Goodman, Butler, & Wallace, 2013; Nyqvist, Pape, Pellfolk, Forsman, & Wahlbeck, 2014), and three of the systematic reviews focused on SC interventions (Coll-Planas et al, 2017; Flores et al, 2018; Villalonga-Olives et al, 2018).…”

Brothers Building Brothers by Breaking Barriers: development of a resilience-building social capital intervention for young black gay and bisexual men living with HIV

“…For example, social network contacts can educate one another about HIV, provide transportation assistance to get to appointments, or simply endorse health-promoting norms that make an HIV-positive individual feel better about engaging in care (Hussen et al, 2014;Ware et al, 2009). Second, observational studies in the US are mixed, but largely support the idea of a similarly positive relationship between social capital and HIV-related outcomesincluding HIV symptom management and ART adherence (Phillips et al, 2013;Ransome et al, 2018;Webel et al, 2015). Third, although social capital research is scant among YB-GBMSM specifically, it is well-established that social relationships are critically important to the resilience of ethnic and sexual minority youth, including YB-GBMSM living with HIV.…”

Social Capital and Risk of Concurrent Sexual Partners Among African Americans in Jackson, Mississippi

“…We did not collect the residential address information from participants, nor did we ask about other social capital indicators. There are alternative and numerous conceptualizations of social capital beyond cognitive measures (e.g., informal social control and civic participation) [17,26] that may be important for sexual concurrency. Social capital has also been frequently conceived as a property of neighborhoods.…”

“…There is compelling evidence that social capital is associated with HIV-related risk and protective factors such as condom use, number of sexual partners, and HIV testing [26]. It is unclear, however, whether social capital is associated with sexual concurrency, which is the first question we investigate in this study.…”

“…Although seen as a broad concept, cognitive-based indicators often used to operationalize social capital in healthrelated studies have varied tremendously, including in studying HIV/AIDS [24][25][26]. Some mechanisms are related to the acquisition of social capital at the individual level as well as facilitating links to health behaviors.…”