scholarly journals Transactional Sex With Regular and Casual Partners Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men in the Detroit Metro Area

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 498-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
José A. Bauermeister ◽  
Lisa Eaton ◽  
Steven Meanley ◽  
Emily S. Pingel ◽  

Transactional sex refers to the commodification of the body in exchange for shelter, food, and other goods and needs. Transactional sex has been associated with negative health outcomes including HIV infection, psychological distress, and substance use and abuse. Compared with the body of research examining transactional sex among women, less is known about the prevalence and correlates of transactional sex among men. Using data from a cross-sectional survey of young men who have sex with men (ages 18-29) living in the Detroit Metro Area ( N = 357; 9% HIV infected; 49% Black, 26% White, 16% Latino, 9% Other race), multivariate logistic regression analyses examined the association between transactional sex with regular and casual partners and key psychosocial factors (e.g., race/ethnicity, education, poverty, relationship status, HIV status, prior sexually transmitted infections [STIs], mental health, substance use, and residential instability) previously identified in the transactional sex literature. Forty-four percent of the current sample reported engaging in transactional sex. Transactional sex was associated with age, employment status, relationship status, and anxiety symptoms. When stratified, transactional sex with a regular partner was associated with age, educational attainment, employment status, relationship status, anxiety, and alcohol use. Transactional sex with a casual partner was associated with homelessness, race/ethnicity, employment status, and hard drug use. The implications of these findings for HIV/STI prevention are discussed, including the notion that efforts to address HIV/STIs among young men who have sex with men may require interventions to consider experiences of transactional sex and the psychosocial contexts that may increase its likelihood.

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S130-S131
Author(s):  
Nicole Kozloff ◽  
Aristotle Voineskos ◽  
George Foussias ◽  
Alexia Polillo ◽  
Sean Kidd ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Despite the body of evidence supporting early psychosis intervention (EPI) programs for young people with psychotic disorders, approximately 30% of individuals with first-episode psychosis disengage from care. To date, two factors, lack of family involvement and presence of a substance use disorder, have emerged as robust predictors of EPI disengagement. Several factors associated with service disengagement in mental health care more broadly have not been well-studied in EPI; some of these, such as homelessness and ethnicity, may be of particular importance to urban, multicultural populations, and ethnicity in particular has been shown to affect pathways into EPI services. Early missed appointments may signal risk for subsequent service disengagement. We sought to identify early predictors of disengagement risk in an urban EPI program. Methods We conducted a prospective chart review of consecutive patients accepted for services in a large, urban EPI program in Toronto, Canada in a 3-month period from July 4-October 3, 2018. Patients were observed in their first 3 months of treatment. The primary outcome of interest was risk of disengagement, defined as having missed at least 1 appointment without cancellation. Extracted data included a variety of demographic and clinical information. The principal investigator trained 2 data abstractors on the first 50 charts; subsequent agreement on the next 5 charts was 88%. Based on previous literature, we hypothesized that risk of disengagement would be increased in individuals with problem substance use, experiences of homelessness, and nonwhite race/ethnicity and decreased in individuals with family involvement in their care. We used logistic regression to examine the odds of disengagement associated with univariate predictors individually, and then together in a multivariate model. Results Seventy-three patients were consecutively admitted to EPI services in the 3-month period. Of these individuals, 59% (N=43) were identified as being at risk of disengagement based on having missed at least 1 appointment without cancellation. In the full sample, 71% (N=52) identified as nonwhite, 23% (N=17) had a documented experience of homelessness, 52% (N=38) had problem substance use, and 73% (N=53) had family involved in their care. In univariate logistic regression, only problem substance use was associated with risk of disengagement (OR=2.91, 95% CI 1.11–7.66); no significant associations were identified with race/ethnicity, experience of homelessness, or family involvement. In multivariate logistic regression, once we controlled for these other factors, the association between risk of disengagement and problem substance use was attenuated and no longer statistically significant (OR=2.15, 95% CI 0.77–5.97). Discussion In this small study of early disengagement in an urban EPI program, only problem substance use was associated with increased odds of missing an appointment, but not when we controlled for other factors thought to be associated with disengagement. Larger studies may be required to identify factors with small but important effects. These factors may be used to identify young people at risk of disengagement from EPI services early in care in order to target them for increased engagement efforts.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth McConnell

Black men who have sex with men (MSM), especially young MSM, are more likely to contract Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) than MSM of other races. However, Black MSM consistently report comparable or fewer individual risk behaviors than MSM of other races. Research thus far has largely targeted individual risk factors and has been unable to account for the mechanisms driving this racial disparity. In addition, although individual risk behaviors occur within particular risk environments, little research examining HIV racial disparities has acknowledged that substance use and other HIV risk behaviors are socially and spatially dependent. Emerging research with Black MSM documents racial/ethnic differences in the individual, venue, and neighborhood level networks of young men who have sex with men (YMSM). These findings suggest that although rates of drug use and other individual risk behaviors may be lower among Black YMSM than other racial/ethnic groups, their consequences may be different due to the nature of the risk environments experienced by these young men. The overall objective of this project was to contribute to knowledge about structural mechanisms (e.g., stigma, discrimination, and resource inequality) that shape risk environments, which in turn shape consequences of substance use and other HIV risk behaviors for YMSM of different races/ethnicities. However, quantitative data describing these social and spatial contexts (i.e., the structure of individual, venue, and neighborhood networks) has limited capacity to explore and explain these complex phenomena, and interpreting these data is problematic without the incorporation of the voices, lived experiences, and insights of YMSM themselves. Therefore, thisstudy used an innovative mixed methods approach to visualize and guide the interpretation of individual, venue, and neighborhood level networks captured within an existing NIH-funded cohort of YMSM. Using an explanatory sequential design, multilevel network and geospatial data were visualized (Phase 1) and subsequently used to guide interviews with YMSM (Phase 2). Grounded theory was used to analyze interview data, leading to a theory of mechanisms that shape HIV racial disparities in this population. The overall project had two aims: 1) demonstrate several mechanisms through networks at the individual, venue, and neighborhood levels form risk environments that shape substance use and HIV risk for White, Black, and Hispanic/Latino YMSM, and 2) demonstrate several structural mechanisms, such as stigma, discrimination, and resource inequality, that shape the individual, venue, and neighborhood level networks and risk environments of White, Black, and Hispanic/Latino YMSM.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 2284-2295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. Newcomb ◽  
Gregory Swann ◽  
David Mohr ◽  
Brian Mustanski

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 643-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Kubicek ◽  
Bryce McDavitt ◽  
Julie Carpineto ◽  
George Weiss ◽  
Ellen F. Iverson ◽  
...  

Although the use of illicit substances, particularly those commonly categorized as “club drugs”, among men who have sex with men (MSM), is well established in the literature, little is known about the decision making process that is used in deciding whether or not to use a particular substance. In this study, we examine the positive and negative attitudes and perceptions among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in regards to three specific drugs: crystal methamphetamine, cocaine, and ecstasy. The findings reported here emerged from the baseline quantitative interviews and an accompanying qualitative phase of the Healthy Young Men's study (HYM), a longitudinal study examining risk and protective factors for substance use and sexual risk among an ethnically diverse sample of YMSM. Findings are discussed in relation to framing how service providers and others can design new and innovative interventions to prevent young men from initiating substance use.


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