Authors: Christina Aivadyan, Yong Gun "YG" Lee, and Drs. Nabila El-Bassel and Elwin Wu
A new paper was just published in the Guilford Press Periodicals, with first author Christina Aivadyan, MS. LMSW. Ms. Aivadyan is a doctoral student at the Columbia University School of Social Work who conducts policy-relevant substance use and HIV prevention research tailored to the developmental context of adolescents and young adults. She is also a Fellow with the T32 Program. Of the publication, Ms. Aivadyan reports:
"The findings of this study suggest that Black men who have sex with men (MSM) may engage in higher levels of sexual risk behavior during young adulthood and those who use substances may be at increased risk for HIV transmission, particularly through multiple sex partners.
Further, the relationship between substance use and sexual risk behavior among Black MSM may depend on access to and use of different substances at varying points of adulthood. For example, in this sample, young adults engaged in more binge drinking, marijuana, powdered cocaine, party drug, and other drug use, while crack cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and other stimulants were used more often by adults.
This suggests that HIV prevention interventions targeting Black MSM may benefit from being tailored to age and addressing sexual risk behavior and substance use concurrently. For example, HIV prevention efforts targeting young Black MSM may benefit from being tailored to address the use of specific substances (e.g., binge drinking, marijuana use) in the context of sexual risk behavior."
