The Association Between Social and Spatial Closeness With PrEP Conversations Among Latino Men Who Have Sex With Men

BACKGROUND

US Latino men who have sex with men (LMSM) are a group at highest risk for HIV. One driver of HIV among LMSM is inadequate access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) information. The social network theory of homophily suggests that sharing similar sociodemographic factors could influence PrEP conversations within networks. This study aimed to determine how the effects of homophily across sociodemographic, immigration, cultural, and PrEP-related factors are associated with PrEP-related communication.

SETTING

This study was conducted in Miami-Dade County, FL.

METHODS

Data collected between August 2018 and October 2019 included 10 sociocentric friendship groups of 13 LMSM (N = 130). Participants were recruited using respondent-driven sampling by a community-based organization in Miami. We used the multiple regression quadratic assignment procedure to identify the effects of homophily and relationship characteristics on PrEP-related conversations using R software.

RESULTS

More frequent PrEP-related conversations were associated with dyadic friendships characterized by homophily on knowledge of PrEP effectiveness, heterophily on depressive symptom severity, home addresses proximity, friend closeness, and interaction frequency. Past PrEP-related conversation frequency also increased based on heterophily on the Latino cultural value of familism (ie, emotional support to family). Racial homophily, heterophily on severity of depressive symptoms, home addresses proximity, friendship closeness, and frequency of interactions increased likelihood to encourage a friend to use PrEP.

DISCUSSION

Social and spatial closeness and homophily play a role in PrEP-related conversations. Information from social networks contextualized in geographic settings can be elucidated to contribute toward the design of novel opportunities to end HIV.

Social-cognitive risk for suicide and new relationship formation: False perception, self-fulfilling prophecy, or both?

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the impact of social-cognitive constructs associated with increased suicide risk (i.e., perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness) on relationship formation during real-time interactions of older adolescents with strangers in a dyadic context.

METHOD

Two hundred and seventy-four older adolescents (61.9% female, M age = 18.96 years) were paired with same-gender strangers and completed a laboratory-based interaction task. Both target participants and their partners answered questions about their interaction at three time points during the 45-min session. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized models.

RESULTS

Perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness predicted interpersonal consequences during the interaction. In the first model, thwarted belongingness led targets to inaccurately perceive their partners' assessments of the interaction. This misperception negatively impacted the participants' own desires for friendship. In the second model, thwarted belongingness predicted decreases in targets' desire to continue the conversation, whereas perceived burdensomeness predicted higher levels of desire to continue the conversation. For females, thwarted belongingness in particular was related to new relationship formation in these models. Overall, those who desired to continue talking were more likely to like their partner at the end of the conversation.

CONCLUSIONS

Results add to our understanding of how perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness contribute to increased social alienation, which could serve to increase suicide risk.