Incarceration and unstable housing interact to predict sexual risk behaviours among African American STD clinic patients

Laura Widman; Seth M Noar; Carol E Golin; Jessica F Willoughby; Richard Crosby

doi:10.1177/0956462413505999

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Incarceration and unstable housing interact to predict sexual risk behaviours among African American STD clinic patients

Journal article

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Incarceration and unstable housing interact to predict sexual risk behaviours among African American STD clinic patients

Laura Widman, Seth M Noar, Carol E Golin, Jessica F Willoughby and Richard Crosby

International journal of STD & AIDS, Vol.25(5), pp.348-354

04/2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0956462413505999

Handle:

https://hdl.handle.net/2376/110259

PMCID: PMC4037926

PMID: 24060677

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https://doi.org/10.1177/0956462413505999View

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Abstract

HIV Infections - prevention & control

United States - epidemiology

Sexual Behavior

Follow-Up Studies

Health Status Disparities

Humans

Middle Aged

Risk Factors

Male

Sexually Transmitted Diseases - prevention & control

Housing

Prisoners - statistics & numerical data

Socioeconomic Factors

Sexually Transmitted Diseases - transmission

Sexually Transmitted Diseases - ethnology

Risk-Taking

Adult

Female

HIV Infections - transmission

Sexual Partners

HIV Infections - ethnology

African Americans - psychology

Given the dramatic racial disparities in the rates of HIV/sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among African Americans, understanding broader structural factors that increase the risk for HIV/STIs is crucial. This study investigated incarceration history and unstable housing as two structural predictors of HIV risk behaviour among 293 African Americans (159 men/134 women, mean age = 27). Participants were recruited from an urban sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic in the southeastern U.S. Approximately half the sample had been incarcerated in their lifetime (54%), and 43% had been unstably housed in the past six months. Incarceration was independently associated with the number of sex partners and the frequency of unprotected sex. Unstable housing was independently associated with the frequency of unprotected sex. However, these main effects were qualified by significant interactions: individuals with a history of incarceration and more unstable housing had more sex partners and more unprotected sex in the past three months than individuals without these structural barriers. Implications for structural-level interventions are discussed.

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Title: Incarceration and unstable housing interact to predict sexual risk behaviours among African American STD clinic patients
Creators: Laura Widman - Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Seth M Noar
Carol E Golin
Jessica F Willoughby
Richard Crosby
Publication Details: International journal of STD & AIDS, Vol.25(5), pp.348-354
Academic Unit: Strategic Communication, Department of
Publisher: England
Grant note: 5 T32 AI07001-34 / NIAID NIH HHS T32 AI007001 / NIAID NIH HHS P30 AI050410 / NIAID NIH HHS UL1 TR000083 / NCATS NIH HHS K99 HD075654 / NICHD NIH HHS P30AI50410 / NIAID NIH HHS UL1TR000083 / NCATS NIH HHS K24 HD069204 / NICHD NIH HHS UL1 TR001111 / NCATS NIH HHS
Identifiers: 99900547135501842
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article