Social capital and HIV risk behavior among rural migrants in China

描述（由申请人提供）：全球数据表明，移民感染艾滋病毒的风险增加。艾滋病毒的高感染率和移徙人口的流动性使移徙者成为在原籍国/地方和目的地国/地方之间传播艾滋病病毒的活生生的桥梁。研究结果表明，移民中艾滋病毒感染的增加与他们的艾滋病毒风险行为（药物使用和危险性行为）的高流行率有关，而这些行为又由社会环境和情境因素决定。然而，人们对环境因素导致艾滋病毒风险行为的机制知之甚少。在社会资本理论的指导下，在本项目中，我们建议测试两种可能将社会影响与移民中艾滋病毒风险行为联系起来的假设机制-缺乏社会支持（包括信息，工具和情感）和非正式社会控制的减弱（包括集体效能和规范性信念）。农村流动人口失去了其深深植根于农村原籍地的社会资本（定义为一个人积累的持久、资源丰富、值得信赖和互惠的网络联系），并且由于其较低的社会经济地位，他们可能难以在城市目的地重建社会资本。因此，社会资本有限的移民可能难以获得信息、工具和情感支持，难以在压力巨大的城市环境中建立自己的职业和生活；因此，使用物质成为一个有吸引力和方便的选择。社会资本的缺乏也可能使移民对基于社会资本的集体效能（社区成员自愿采取行动反对可能使社区贬值的偏离行为）的反应较差，从而增加了从事性风险行为的可能性。在重建社会资本的过程中，移民对性的态度和价值观可能会更加开放，从而导致性风险行为。在城市环境中接触更多的机会将进一步加剧这种可能性。女性流动人口的低社会经济地位可能解释了她们比男性流动人口感染艾滋病毒的风险更高。随着艾滋病毒/艾滋病的日益流行和农村移民中艾滋病毒风险行为的高发，中国前所未有的农村向城市迁移为研究这些问题提供了一个窗口机会。我们将在中国武汉进行拟议的研究，武汉是一个拥有810万人口和100万农民工的省会城市。本研究具有重要意义和创新性。拟议研究的数据将使用概率样本收集。研究样本将使用GIS/GPS技术支持的成本效益方法进行选择，并将1200名农村流动人口的样本与农村流动人口原籍地区的非流动人口和农村流动人口目前居住和工作的城市地区的非流动人口进行对比。除调查数据外，还将评估性传播感染情况。我们期望这项研究的发现将促进我们对移民相关的艾滋病毒/艾滋病传播的理解，并为我们下一步的研究提供所需的数据——设计和实施创新的艾滋病毒预防方案。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Worldwide data suggest that migrants are at increased risk of HIV infection. The high rates of HIV infection and the mobility of migrant populations make migrants a living bridge to spread the AIDS virus between the countries/places of origin and the countries/places of destination. Research findings indicate that the increased HIV infection among migrants is associated their high prevalence of HIV risk behaviors (substance use and risky sex), which in turn, are determined by socioenvironmental and situational factors. However, little is known about the mechanisms by which environmental factors lead to HIV risk behavior. Guided by the Social Capital Theory, in this project, we propose to test two hypothesized mechanisms that may link social influences to HIV risk behavior among migrants - the lack of social support (including informational, instrumental and emotional) and the weakening of informal social control (including collective efficacy and normative beliefs). Rural migrants lost their social capital (defined as durable, resource-rich, trustworthy, and reciprocal network connections a person accumulated) deeply rooted in the place of rural origin and they may experience difficulties rebuilding social capital in the urban destination due to their low socioeconomic status. Migrants with limited social capital may then experience difficulties obtaining informational, instrumental, and emotional support to establish their career and life in the stressful urban settings; consequently use of substance becomes an attractive and convenient option. The lack of social capital may also make migrants less responsive to the social capital-based collective efficacy (volunteer actions by community members against deviate behaviors that may devalue the community), increasing the likelihood to engage in sexual risk behavior. When rebuilding social capital, migrants may adopt more liberal attitudes and more open values about sex, leading to sexual risk behavior. Exposure to more opportunities in urban settings will further exacerbate the likelihood. The low SES of female migrants may explain the higher HIV risk among them than among their male counterparts. The unprecedented rural-to-urban migration in China with the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic and the high prevalence of HIV risk behavior among rural migrants provide a window opportunity to investigate these issues. We will conduct the proposed research in Wuhan, China, a metropolitan city and provincial capital with a population of 8.1 million and one million rural migrants. The proposed research is highly significant and very innovative. Data for the proposed research will be collected using probability samples. The study samples will be selected using cost-effective methods supported by the GIS/GPS technology and a sample of 1200 rural migrants will be contrasted with the same number of non- migrant residents in the rural areas from where rural migrants originate and non-migrant residents in the urban areas where the rural migrants are currently living and working. In addition to survey data, sexually transmitted infections will also be assessed. We expected that findings from this research will advance our understanding of the migration-related HIV/AIDS transmission and provide needed data supporting our next step of research - devising and implementing innovative programs for HIV prevention. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: In this project, we propose to examine social capital and its relationship with HIV risk behavior and sexually transmitted infection among rural migrants in China using a random sample. This research is fully relevant to public health because the expected findings from this study will provide data supporting innovative HIV/AIDS prevention among Chinese rural migrants as well as migrants in general - a significant and global strategy in the era of frequent domestic and international population migration in response to globalization and the developmental disparities in the 21st century.