Gene-Environment Interaction Effects on HIV Risk

描述(由申请者提供)：非裔美国人(AA)城市青少年是感染艾滋病毒风险最高的群体之一，贫困的城市青少年表现出高比例的其他危险行为，包括吸毒、酗酒和外化行为。这项研究是在生物生态学模型的指导下进行的，该模型将邻居和遗传因素整合为一系列艾滋病毒危险行为的预测因素。我们的具体目标是：测试贫困再生障碍性贫血青年中艾滋病毒危险行为的生物生态学模型；(2)确定关于贫困再生障碍性贫血青年中一系列艾滋病毒危险行为的基因和邻里关系的介导者和调节者；(3)按照最高生物伦理标准进行所有研究和成果传播，并服务于参与社区。为了实现这些目标，这项提案利用了一项自然实验，在该实验中，联邦住房基金最近被用来将居住在贫困公共住房中的AA青年样本重新安置到更有利的社区。除了这一“治疗条件”，还有两个自然对照组：(1)生活在其他公共住房社区的青年，这些社区的贫困程度和青年自我报告的艾滋病毒危险行为相当；(2)搬迁到同样处境不利的社区的青年。这项自然实验的特别之处在于，所有这些年轻人(N=637，14-18岁)都参与了我们正在进行的流动青年调查(MYS)，该调查提供了多波搬迁前青年关于艾滋病毒危险行为和社区质量的自我报告数据。为了补充和扩展MYS数据库，我们将收集青少年及其主要照顾者对性风险、药物使用、外化行为、邻里风险和资源、家庭因素和个性的详细评估。我们还将收集年轻人的DNA和与HIV危险行为集群相关的候选基因。我们将首次获得地方和联邦的犯罪和贫困数据。所有数据收集和研究结果的传播都将在生物伦理学家和社区咨询委员会的咨询下进行，以确保在研究的所有阶段都达到最高的道德标准。这一基础研究项目的直接目标是确定一系列艾滋病毒危险行为所涉及的生物生态过程。长期目标是利用这些数据为极易感染艾滋病毒的城市贫困青少年制定生物、行为、结构或多层次的干预措施。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): African American (AA) urban adolescents are one of the groups at greatest risk of exposure to HIV, and impoverished urban youth show high rates of other risk behaviors, including drug use, alcohol abuse, and externalizing behaviors. This study is guided by a bioecological model that integrates neighborhood and genetic factors as predictors of a cluster of HIV risk behaviors. Ur specific aims are to: test a bioecological model of HIV risk behaviors among impoverished AA youth; (2) identify mediators and moderators of genes and neighborhoods on a cluster of HIV risk behaviors among impoverished AA youth; (3) conduct all of the research and dissemination of findings according to the highest bioethical standards and in service to the participating community. In order to accomplish these aims, this proposal takes advantage of a natural experiment in which federal housing funds were recently used to relocate a sample of AA youth living in impoverished public housing to more advantaged neighborhoods. In addition to this "treatment condition", two natural control groups exist: (1) youth living in other public housing neighborhoods that are equivalent on census measures of poverty and youth self-reported HIV risk behaviors; (2) youth that relocated to similarly disadvantaged neighborhoods. What makes this natural experiment particularly exceptional is that all of these youth (N = 637, ages 14-18) are participants in our ongoing Mobile Youth Survey (MYS), which provides multiple waves of pre-relocation youth self-report data on HIV risk behaviors and neighborhood quality. To complement and extend the MYS database, we will gather detailed assessments of sexual risk taking, substance use, externalizing behaviors, neighborhood risks and resources, family factors, and personality from youth and their primary caregiver. We will also collect DNA from youth and genotype candidate neurotransmitter genes related to the cluster of HIV risk behaviors.. We will obtain for the first time local and federal crime and poverty data. All data collection and dissemination of findings will be performed with consultation from bioethicists and a community advisory board to assure that the highest ethical standards are met at all stages of the research. The immediate goal of this basic research project is to identify bioecological processes involved in a cluster of HIV risk behaviors. The long-term goal is to use these data to develop biological, behavioral, structural, or multilevel interventions for urban, impoverished adolescents highly vulnerable to HIV.