Social Capital and Risk of Concurrent Sexual Partners Among African Americans in Jackson, Mississippi

Yusuf Ransome,Karlene Cunningham,Tiara C Willie,Philip Chan,Philip Chan,Philip Chan,Dantrell Simmons,Leandro Mena,Miguel Paredes,Amy Nunn,Amy Nunn,Amy Nunn,Amy Nunn,Cassandra Sutten-Coats,Cassandra Sutten-Coats,Cassandra Sutten-Coats,Cassandra Sutten-Coats

doi:10.1007/s10461-019-02770-8

Abstract

Concurrent sexual partnerships (i.e., relationships that overlap in time) contribute to higher HIV acquisition risk. Social capital, defined as resources and connections available to individuals is hypothesized to reduce sexual HIV risk behavior, including sexual concurrency. Additionally, we do not know whether any association between social capital and sexual concurrency is moderated by gender. Multivariable logistic regression tested the association between social capital and sexual concurrency and effect modification by gender. Among 1445 African Americans presenting for care at an urban STI clinic in Jackson, Mississippi, mean social capital was 2.85 (range 1–5), mean age was 25 (SD = 6), and 62% were women. Sexual concurrency in the current year was lower for women compared to men (45% vs. 55%, χ2(df = 1) = 11.07, p = .001). Higher social capital was associated with lower adjusted odds of sexual concurrency for women compared to men (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 0.62 (95% CI 0.39–0.97), p = 0.034), controlling for sociodemographic and psychosocial covariates. Interventions that add social capital components may be important for lowering sexual risk among African Americans in Mississippi.

Highlights

African Americans remain the racial group with the highest prevalence and incidence of HIV infection in the United States (U.S), especially in the south [1]
Based on theory and empirical evidence, it is plausible that gender may modify the relationship between social capital at the individual level and self-reported HIV risk behaviors, such as sexual concurrency, which is the second question we investigate in this study
Sexual concurrency remains a key risk factor that contributes to high HIV incidence among African Americans, in the south, and more likely to have an adverse impact on women

Summary

Introduction

African Americans remain the racial group with the highest prevalence and incidence of HIV infection in the United States (U.S), especially in the south [1]. The southern region, where more than 50% of African Americans reside, is the region with the highest lifetime HIV risk [2]. Disparities by race and gender are pronounced. Racial and ethnic disparities in HIV are not wholly explained by differences in sexual or drug use risk behaviors but rather, attributed to other factors such as delays in testing and accessing HIV prevention, differences in sociodemographic factors of sexual partners (e.g., age and gender), higher HIV prevalence in sexual networks, assortative sexual mixing, and concurrent sexual partnerships [5,6,7,8].

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Conclusion