Social Network and Contextual Influences on Substance Use and HIV Risk Among YMSM

描述(由申请人提供)：在美国，男男性行为者(MSM)仍然是受艾滋病毒感染影响最大的群体，年轻男性特别容易受到新感染的风险。为预防年轻男男性接触者(YMSM)的新感染，人们投入了相当多的注意力；然而，对YMSM的社会网络以及YMSM从事诸如药物使用(SU)等高危行为的社会背景进行的研究很少。经典的社会学理论和几个关于健康行为的著名理论，如社会认知理论和理性行为理论，都强调了社会环境在影响个人行为方面的重要性。然而，人们对基督教男同性恋者聚集在一起社交的背景以及这些背景如何促进SU和艾滋病毒危险行为的参与知之甚少。这项拟议的研究试图使用混合方法来检查洛杉矶县的YMSM的社会网络，以及与不同水平的SU和艾滋病毒风险行为相关的背景。NIDA资助的“健康青年男性”(HYM)研究的数据将被用来确定洛杉矶YMSM社交网络中的模式以及洛杉矶YMSM聚集的社交背景(例如酒吧、俱乐部、咖啡店、书店)。利用个人和群体的二元性理论，关于基督教青年会社会化模式的数据将被输入可以被分析为社交网络的矩阵中(即，基督教青年会提名的共享情境被视为网络成员之间的“纽带”，提名特定社会情境的网络成员被视为这些背景之间的纽带)。分析社交网络时将注意社会人口特征(例如，种族/族裔、年龄、性别认同)。YMSM个人的属性，包括SU行为和性危险行为(SRB)，将与YMSM提名的社会背景相关联。在拟议研究的第二阶段，将使用定性方法(例如，人种学观察数据、半结构访谈)来补充定量结果，以便更好地了解基督教青年会中最受欢迎的社会背景的特征。综上所述，社会计量网络数据和定性数据将被用来为新的或针对社会背景的现有干预措施的制定提供信息，这可能最有利于在青年男同性恋者中吸收SU和艾滋病毒预防信息。 公共卫生相关性：男男性接触者(YMSM)感染艾滋病毒的比例更高。这项研究将通过了解导致这一人群药物滥用和性风险的社会网络和背景影响，为有效的YMSM药物滥用和HIV危险行为干预做出贡献。具体地说，社会网络分析与定性实地调查相结合，将阐明与不同程度的药物使用和艾滋病毒风险行为相关的社会网络和社会背景的特征。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Men who have sex with men (MSM) remain the group most affected by HIV infection in the United States with younger men at particular risk for new infection. Considerable attention has been devoted to developing intervention programs to prevent new infections among young MSM (YMSM); however, little research has been conducted on the social networks of YMSM and the social contexts where YMSM engage in high-risk behaviors that promote HIV risk, such as substance use (SU). Classical sociological theory and several prominent theories of health behavior, such as Social Cognitive Theory and the Theory of Reasoned Action, emphasize the importance of the social environment in influencing individual behavior. Yet little is known about the contexts in which YMSM gather to socialize and how these contexts facilitate engagement in SU and HIV risk behavior. The proposed study seeks to use a mixed-methods approach to examining social networks of YMSM in Los Angeles County and the contexts that are associated with varying levels of SU and HIV risk behavior among YMSM. Data from the NIDA-funded "Healthy Young Men" (HYM) study will be used to identify patterns in the social networks of YMSM in Los Angeles and the social contexts (e.g. bars, clubs, coffee shops, bookstores) where YMSM in Los Angeles gather. Using the Duality of Persons and Groups Theory, data on YMSM socialization patterns will be entered into matrices that can be analyzed as social networks (i.e., the shared contexts that YMSM nominate are regarded as "ties" between network members and network members who nominate a particular social context serve as ties between those contexts). Social networks will be analyzed with attention to sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, age, sexual identity). Attributes of individual YMSM, including SU behaviors and sexual risk behavior (SRB), will be associated with the social contexts that YMSM have nominated. During the second phase of the proposed study, qualitative methodologies (e.g., ethnographic observational data, semi-structured interviews) will be used to supplement quantitative findings in order to better understand the features of most popular social contexts among YMSM. Taken together, the sociometric network data and qualitative data will be used to inform the development of new or tailoring of existing interventions that are targeted to social contexts, which may be most conducive to the uptake of SU and HIV prevention messages among YMSM. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Young Men who have Sex with Men (YMSM) are disproportionately affected by HIV. This study will contribute to effective substance abuse and HIV risk behavior interventions for YMSM by understanding the social network and contextual influences that contribute to substance use and sexual risk in this population. Specifically, social network analysis coupled with qualitative fieldwork will elucidate characteristics of social networks and social contexts that are associated with varying levels of substance use and HIV risk behavior.