Social Sexual Networks and HIV Risk: Men of Color

This study will advance theoretical understandings of HIV risk behaviors by examining potential mechanisms (i.e., social networks and sexual partnerships) through which social discrimination impacts sexual risk among MSM of color and offer valuable insights for possible interventions involving both individual and structural changes. In three phases, we will describe sexual partnership patterns and explain the association between social discrimination, social networks, sexual partnerships and HIV risk among African American, Asian and Pacific Islander (API), and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) in Los Angeles, CA.

• Phase 1. We will conduct in-depth individual interviews and focus groups to explore the nature of sexual partnership formation and examine the key domains hypothesized to influence social networks, sexual partnerships and HIV risk in our working model.
• Phase 2. We will utilize qualitative data to develop measures of the constructs of interest and test these new scales to establish their reliability and validity. Based upon these new measures and existing measures in the research literature, we will develop a quantitative survey instrument.
• Phase 3. We will conduct a cross-sectional survey to describe sexual partnership patterns and examine our working model of HIV risk. A chain-referral sample of 1200 men will complete audio computer-assisted self-interviews using a standardized questionnaire developed in Phase 2.