A Multilevel Network Model of Drug Use and HIV Racial Disparities in Men

 描述：与男性发生性行为的黑人男性，特别是年轻的男性男性行为者，感染艾滋病毒的比例不成比例，每年的发病率高于任何其他年龄或种族群体。尽管这一流行病日益流行，但很少有研究关注男男性接触者，也没有考虑到这些差异。这项研究考察了男男性接触者的差异，一直专注于理解个人层面的行为，但这不足以解释艾滋病病毒的种族差异。此外，网络研究日益成为艾滋病毒研究的优先领域，因为这种疾病高度依赖药物和性网络的传播动态。然而，如果不考虑个人和背景因素的相互作用，仅有网络描述也是不够的。相反，有人建议，可能需要更广泛的系统层面的观点，因为几个相互作用的个人、网络和背景差异可能解释了黑人MSM人群中流行的增加。由于呼吁从系统层面来理解和预防艾滋病毒感染，这笔赠款旨在通过在多层网络模型中检查个人、性网络和社会背景因素来促进对MSM中艾滋病毒种族差异的理解。该模型将在由U01 NIDA资助的1,200名不同类型的芝加哥YMSM(PI：主要导师Mustanski)的特殊队列中进行测试，该队列正在收集原始的多层次(生物、个人、二元、网络)数据。利用申请者R03项目中开发的方法，YMSM将完成社交(社会、性、毒品)和背景(邻里和地点)网络面试。将这项研究纳入U01队列，使当前的项目受益于U01强大的基础设施和资源，增强了该项目的可行性，并为扩大U01的目标提供了独特的机会。来自这一全面的纵向多水平数据集的数据将用于通过创新的分析和方法建立和验证社会背景对艾滋病毒种族差异的影响模型，这些分析和方法解释了艾滋病毒传播和种族差异的复杂动态。整个项目有两个目标：1)确定导致HV种族差异的社会背景因素(即社会关系和社会背景)和2)考察个人、性网络和社会背景因素在种族中的相互作用 艾滋病毒方面的差异。其他次级目标包括：a)使用创新的多成员多重分类模型比较每一层次的分析对艾滋病毒种族差异的贡献；b)利用全球机制了解和验证个人、性关系网和社会背景结构与艾滋病毒种族差异的关系。

 DESCRIPTION: Black men who have sex with men (MSM), especially young MSM, are disproportionately affected by HIV, with an annual incidence higher than any other age or race group. Despite this increasing epidemic, few studies have focused on MSM nor accounted for these disparities. The research that has examined disparities in MSM has been focused on understanding individual-level behavior, but this has been inadequate to explain HIV racial disparities. Additionally, network research is increasingly a priority area in HIV research due to the disease's high transmission dependence on drug and sexual network dynamics. However, network descriptions alone are also inadequate without considering the interplay of individual and contextual factors. Instead, it has been suggested that a broader systems-level perspective may be necessary as several interacting individual, network, and contextual differences may account for the increased epidemic in Black MSM populations. Due to this call for a systems-level perspective in understanding and preventing HIV infection, this grant seeks to advance understandings of HIV racial disparities in MSM by examining individual, sexual network, and social contextual factors within a multilevel network model. This model will be tested within an exceptional U01 NIDA-funded cohort of 1,200 diverse Chicago YMSM (PI: Primary Mentor Mustanski), which is collecting original multilevel (biologic, individual, dyadic, network) data. Utilizing methods developed within the applicant's R03 Project, YMSM will complete social (social, sexual, drug) and contextual (neighborhood & venue) network interviews. Building the study into the U01 cohort allows the current project to benefit from the strong infrastructure and resources of the U01, fortifies this project's feasibility, and provides unique opportunities to expand the aims of the U01. Data from this comprehensive longitudinal multilevel dataset will be used to build and validate a model of social contextual influences on racial disparities in HIV through innovative analyses and methods that account for the complex dynamics of HIV transmission and racial disparities. The overall project has two aims: 1) Identify social contextua factors (i.e., social relational and social contextual) which contribute to racial disparities in HV and 2) Examine the interplay of individual, sexual network, and social contextual factors in racial disparities in HIV. Additional sub- aims include: A) Compare the contribution of each level of analysis to racial disparities in HIV using innovative Multiple-Membership Multiple-Classification Models (MMMC) and B) Understand and validate the relations of individual, sexual network, and social contextual structures and attributes to racial disparities in HIV with ERGM.