Associations of Minority Stressors, Alcohol Use Disorder, Resilience, and HIV Testing Self-Efficacy Among Community-Based Black Men Who Have Sex with Men in a Southern U.S. City: A Causal Mediation and Moderation Analysis

Abstract

Background: Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) face multiple minority stressors (e.g., homophobia, racism, and presumed HIV status) that may indirectly erode their confidence in pursuing HIV testing uptake through exacerbating alcohol use disorder (AUD). Objectives: Using cross-sectional data from 203 community-based BMSM (71.4% as homosexual with a mean age of 26 years) living in a Southern US city, we conducted a causal mediation and moderation analysis to investigate in/direct pathways linking minority stressors, AUD risk, and self-efficacy of HIV testing, including how resilience may moderate these associations. Results: Our mediation analysis revealed that AUD risk accounted for 32.1% of the total effect of internalized homonegativity (βtotal effect = -0.424; SE=0.071; p<0.001), 28.6% of the total effect of experienced homophobia (βtotal effect = -0.684; SE=0.122; p<0.001), and 15.3% of the total effect of perceived HIV stigma (βtotal effect = -0.361; SE=0.164; p<0.05) on HIV testing self-efficacy. Resilience significantly moderated the associations of experienced homophobia (β = -0.049; SE=0.011; p<0.001), internalized homonegativity (β = -0.065; SE=0.027; p<0.01), and perceived HIV stigma (β = -0.034; SE=0.013; p<0.05) with AUD risk. Resilience also significantly moderated the associations of experienced homophobia (β = -0.073; SE=0.021; p<0.01), internalized homonegativity (β = -0.082; SE=0.012; p<0.001), perceived HIV stigma (β = -0.037; SE=0.039; p<0.05), and AUD risk (β = -0.021; SE=0.015; p<0.05) with HIV testing self-efficacy. Conclusions: Our study provides important implications in identifying multilevel sources for building resilience among BMSM to buffer the effects of minority stress on AUD risk and improve HIV testing outcomes.