TY - JOUR
T1 - Social Network Support and Decreased Risk of Seroconversion in Black MSM
T2 - Results of the BROTHERS (HPTN 061) Study
AU - Hermanstyne, Keith A.
AU - Green, Harold D.
AU - Cook, Ryan
AU - Tieu, Hong Van
AU - Dyer, Typhanye V.
AU - Hucks-Ortiz, Christopher
AU - Wilton, Leo
AU - Latkin, Carl
AU - Shoptaw, Steven
N1 - Funding Information:
K.A.H. was supported by the UCLA-Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, and he received study design feedback and research mentorship on this project from Kenneth B. Wells and Nina T. Harawa. S.S. reports grant support MH P30058107 from the National Institute of Mental Health during the conduct of the study and clinical supplies from Medicinova, Inc. and Gilead Sciences, Inc. outside of the submitted work. The remaining authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose.
Funding Information:
K.A.H. was supported by the UCLA–Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, and he received study design feedback and research mentorship on this project from Kenneth B. Wells and Nina T. Harawa.
Funding Information:
S.S. reports grant support MH P30058107 from the National Institute of Mental Health during the conduct of the study and clinical supplies from Medicinova, Inc. and Gilead Sciences, Inc. outside of the submitted work. The remaining authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/6/1
Y1 - 2018/6/1
N2 - Background and setting: Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) in the United States have disproportionately high HIV infection rates. Social networks have been shown to influence HIV risk behavior; however, little is known about whether they affect the risk of HIV seroconversion. This study uses data from the BROTHERS (HPTN 061) study to test whether contextual factors related to social networks are associated with HIV seroconversion among BMSM. Methods: We analyzed data from the BROTHERS study (2009-2011), which examined a multicomponent intervention for BMSM in 6 US cities. We ran a series of Cox regression analyses to examine associations between time-dependent measures of network support (personal/emotional, financial, medical, and social participation) and time to HIV seroconversion. We ran unadjusted models followed by models adjusted for participant age at enrollment and study location. Results: A total of 1000 BMSM tested HIV negative at baseline and were followed at 6- and 12-month study visits. Twenty-eight men tested HIV positive. In adjusted hazard ratio models, study participants who remained HIV negative had higher proportions of social network members who provided personal/emotional {0.92 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.85 to 0.99]}, medical [0.92 (95% CI: 0.85 to 0.99)], or social participation [0.91 (95% CI: 0.86 to 0.97)] support. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the increased presence of social network support can be protective against HIV acquisition. Future research should explore the processes that link social network support with sexual and other transmission risk behaviors as a basis to inform HIV prevention efforts.
AB - Background and setting: Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) in the United States have disproportionately high HIV infection rates. Social networks have been shown to influence HIV risk behavior; however, little is known about whether they affect the risk of HIV seroconversion. This study uses data from the BROTHERS (HPTN 061) study to test whether contextual factors related to social networks are associated with HIV seroconversion among BMSM. Methods: We analyzed data from the BROTHERS study (2009-2011), which examined a multicomponent intervention for BMSM in 6 US cities. We ran a series of Cox regression analyses to examine associations between time-dependent measures of network support (personal/emotional, financial, medical, and social participation) and time to HIV seroconversion. We ran unadjusted models followed by models adjusted for participant age at enrollment and study location. Results: A total of 1000 BMSM tested HIV negative at baseline and were followed at 6- and 12-month study visits. Twenty-eight men tested HIV positive. In adjusted hazard ratio models, study participants who remained HIV negative had higher proportions of social network members who provided personal/emotional {0.92 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.85 to 0.99]}, medical [0.92 (95% CI: 0.85 to 0.99)], or social participation [0.91 (95% CI: 0.86 to 0.97)] support. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the increased presence of social network support can be protective against HIV acquisition. Future research should explore the processes that link social network support with sexual and other transmission risk behaviors as a basis to inform HIV prevention efforts.
KW - African Americans
KW - HIV seroconversion
KW - Men who have sex with men
KW - Prevention of sexual transmission
KW - Social networks
KW - Social support
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060173148&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85060173148&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/QAI.0000000000001645
DO - 10.1097/QAI.0000000000001645
M3 - Article
C2 - 29424789
AN - SCOPUS:85060173148
SN - 1525-4135
VL - 78
SP - 163
EP - 168
JO - Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes
JF - Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes
IS - 2
ER -