Social Support Networks and HIV/STI Risk Behaviors Among Latino Immigrants in a New Receiving Environment

Althoff, Meghan D.; Theall, Katherine P.; Schmidt, Norine; Hembling, John; Gebrekristos, Hirut T.; Thompson, Michelle M; Muth, Stephen Q.; Friedman, Samuel R.; Kissinger, Patricia

doi:10.1007/s10461-017-1849-8

Cited by 20 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The results on the psychosocial factors of social support, loneliness, and depressive symptoms provided some new findings. Participants with a self-reported HIV-antibody positive status reported less social support, which supports previous research indicating that social support is important for Hispanic MSM living with HIV infection (Althoff et al, 2017). In addition, social support may be important in preventing HIV infection among Hispanic MSM (Althoff et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Participants with a self-reported HIV-antibody positive status reported less social support, which supports previous research indicating that social support is important for Hispanic MSM living with HIV infection (Althoff et al, 2017). In addition, social support may be important in preventing HIV infection among Hispanic MSM (Althoff et al, 2017). For Hispanic MSM living with HIV infection, social support has been shown to improve relationship dynamics, engagement in HIV care, and antiretroviral treatment adherence (Anderson et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

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A Comparison of Psychosocial Factors, Substance Use Behaviors, and Sexual Behaviors by Self-Reported HIV Status Among Middle-Aged Hispanic Men Who Have Sex With Men

Valdes

Salani

Santis

2020

Hisp Health Care Int

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Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a significant health issue among Hispanic men who have sex with men (MSM). Despite existing research, no studies have compared psychosocial factors by self-reported HIV antibody status. Method: Participants ( n = 150) completed measures of social support, loneliness, depressive symptoms, substance use, and sexual behaviors. Results: Participants with a self-reported HIV-antibody positive status reported lower levels of social support and higher levels of illicit substance use. Hispanic MSM with an unknown HIV antibody status reported more sexual partners. Conclusion: More research is needed to address psychosocial factors (social support, loneliness, depressive symptoms), substance use, and sexual behaviors among Hispanic MSM.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

A Comparison of Psychosocial Factors, Substance Use Behaviors, and Sexual Behaviors by Self-Reported HIV Status Among Middle-Aged Hispanic Men Who Have Sex With Men

Valdes

Salani

Santis

2020

Hisp Health Care Int

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“…Among adolescents, perceived support from friends was associated with lower sexual risk behaviors among female adolescents, while perceived support from family, not friends, was associated with lower sexual risk behaviors among male adolescents [44]. Lastly, in a study of Latino Immigrants in New Orleans [45], gender difference was not found in the association between social support and HIV risk behaviors in that social support served as a protective factor for both genders.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social support, mental health needs, and HIV risk behaviors: a gender-specific, correlation study

2019

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Background The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to threaten the health and wellbeing of millions in the United States and worldwide. Syndemic theory suggests that HIV/AIDS can cooccur with other afflictions. As close to 20% of US adults live with a mental health condition, it is critical to understand the correlation between HIV risk behaviors and mental health needs, as well as protective factors such as social support in intervening the association between mental distress and HIV risk behaviors. Furthermore, as past research has shown mixed results concerning the function of social support on HIV risks by gender, it is important to conduct a gender-specific analysis. Methods To assess the relationship between mental health needs, social support, and HIV risk behaviors, and to assess if social support can be a buffer, weakening the effect of mental health needs on HIV risk, in 2018, we analyzed representative, cross-sectional data from 2016 BRFSS collected from 33,705 individuals from four states in the United States, stratified by gender. Weighted logistic regression analyses, adjusted for age, race, marital status, education, and annual income, assessed the correlation between mental health needs, social support, and HIV risk behaviors. Furthermore, interaction analyses were performed to see if social support modifies the slope of mental health needs as a function of HIV risk behaviors. Results For both genders, the odds of participating in HIV risk behaviors increase with mental health needs and decrease with the level of social support. Furthermore, social support mitigates the association between mental health needs and HIV risk behavior involvement for males, as males receiving high level of social support have least odds of HIV risk behaviors relative to males receiving low level of social support. Notably, for females, social support does not serve as a buffer against HIV risk behaviors when their mental health needs increase. Conclusion The study contributes to the knowledge base of HIV prevention and highlights the important role of mental health and social support against HIV risk behaviors when developing gender-specific prevention strategies.

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“…Classes cannot be measured directly; they are identified using a technique called latent class analysis [ 17 , 18 ], in which patterns of observable, categorical behaviors or measures (i.e., app usage patterns) are analyzed to classify members of a study population into unobservable subgroups. Latent class analysis has been used to characterize individuals in prior studies of eHealth interventions [ 19–23 ] and of PLWH [ 24–28 ]. Latent class analysis may be a valuable methodology to study multi-feature mHealth interventions such as PL that members choose to use differently based on underlying and unmeasurable traits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward understanding the impact of mHealth features for people with HIV: a latent class analysis of PositiveLinks usage

Canan

Flickinger

Waselewski

et al. 2019

Translational Behavioral Medicine

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PositiveLinks (PL) is a multi-feature smartphone-based platform to improve engagement-in-care and viral suppression (VS) among clinic patients living with HIV. Features include medication reminders, mood/stress check-ins, a community board, and secure provider messaging. Our goal was to examine how PL users interact with the app and determine whether usage patterns correlate with clinical outcomes. Patients (N = 83) at a university-based Ryan White clinic enrolled in PL from June 2016 to March 2017 and were followed for up to 12 months. A subset (N = 49) completed interviews after 3 weeks of enrollment to explore their experiences with and opinions of PL. We differentiated PL members based on 6-month usage of app features using latent class analysis. We explored characteristics associated with class membership, compared reported needs and preferences by class, and examined association between class and VS. The sample of 83 PL members fell into four classes. “Maximizers” used all app features frequently (27%); “Check-in Users” tended to interact only with daily queries (22%); “Moderate All-Feature Users” used all features occasionally (33%); and “As-Needed Communicators” interacted with the app minimally (19%). VS improved or remained high among all classes after 6 months. VS remained high at 12 months among Maximizers (baseline and 12-month VS: 100%, 94%), Check-in Users (82%, 100%), and Moderate All-Feature Users (73%, 94%) but not among As-Needed Communicators (69%, 60%). This mixed-methods study identified four classes based on PL usage patterns that were distinct in characteristics and clinical outcomes. Identifying and characterizing mHealth user classes offers opportunities to tailor interventions appropriately based on patient needs and preferences as well as to provide targeted alternative support to achieve clinical goals.

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Social Support Networks and HIV/STI Risk Behaviors Among Latino Immigrants in a New Receiving Environment

Cited by 20 publications

References 42 publications

A Comparison of Psychosocial Factors, Substance Use Behaviors, and Sexual Behaviors by Self-Reported HIV Status Among Middle-Aged Hispanic Men Who Have Sex With Men

A Comparison of Psychosocial Factors, Substance Use Behaviors, and Sexual Behaviors by Self-Reported HIV Status Among Middle-Aged Hispanic Men Who Have Sex With Men

Social support, mental health needs, and HIV risk behaviors: a gender-specific, correlation study

Toward understanding the impact of mHealth features for people with HIV: a latent class analysis of PositiveLinks usage

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