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Peer Social Support is Associated with Recent HIV Testing Among Young Black Men Who Have Sex with Men

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Abstract

Resiliency factors such as social support have been associated with more frequent HIV testing among MSM. We examined the association between social support and delayed HIV testing in the context of structural discrimination and individual factors among young Black MSM. We combined two independent cross-sectional samples recruited 1 year apart from a venue-based, modified time-location sampling study of young Black MSM aged 18–29 years in the US South. Our subsample (N = 813) was men who self-reported not being HIV positive and who indicated they had one or more male sex partners in the past 2 months. Using a social epidemiology framework we estimated associations of structural (racism and homophobia), social (social support from other Black MSM friends) and individual factors with delayed HIV testing (>6 months ago) using logistic regression. Bivariate analyses demonstrated that individual level variables as well as experiences of racism (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.02–1.41) and homophobia (OR 1.49, 95 % CI 1.02–2.17) were associated with higher risk of delayed HIV testing. Receiving social support from other Black MSM friends was associated with lower risk of delayed HIV testing (OR 0.80, 95 % CI 0.67–0.95). In multivariable models, social support remained significantly associated with lower risk of delayed HIV testing after inclusion of structural and individual level variables. Social support has a positive and robust association with HIV testing among young Black MSM. Whether community building and development of resiliency factors can overcome structural, social, and individual-level barriers to HIV prevention and care for young Black MSM warrants further study.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Agatha Eke and Dr. Wayne Johnson, from the CDC; Dr. Kenneth Jones, formerly of the CDC; Dr. Jan Risser, formerly of the University of Texas, Houston; Paige Wermuth of University of Texas, Houston; and Anne Freeman and Doug Sheehan of the University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, Texas. This work was supported by cooperative agreement #UR6PS000334 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HMS received support from the Traineeship in AIDS Prevention Studies T32 postdoctoral fellowship (MH-19105-23) from the National Institutes of Mental Health of the U.S. Public Health Service.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, 50 Beale Street Suite 1300, San Francisco, CA, 94105, USA

    Hyman M. Scott, Lance Pollack, Gregory M. Rebchook & Susan M. Kegeles

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    David M. Huebner

  3. Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    John Peterson

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  1. Hyman M. Scott
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  2. Lance Pollack
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Correspondence to Hyman M. Scott.

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Scott, H.M., Pollack, L., Rebchook, G.M. et al. Peer Social Support is Associated with Recent HIV Testing Among Young Black Men Who Have Sex with Men. AIDS Behav 18, 913–920 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0608-8

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