Abstract
HIV prevention fatigue (the sense that prevention messages are tiresome) and being overly optimistic about HIV treatments are hypothesized to increase HIV risk behavior. Little research has examined these constructs and their correlates among young men who have sex with men (YMSM), who are at high risk for HIV. YMSM (N = 352; Mage = 20; 50% Black) completed measures of prevention fatigue, treatment optimism, HIV risk behaviors, and HIV-related knowledge and attitudes during a longitudinal study. Overall, YMSM reported low levels of HIV prevention fatigue and treatment optimism. Path analysis (n = 307) indicated that greater prevention fatigue and treatment optimism predicted higher rates of condomless sex, but condomless sex did not predict later increases in prevention fatigue or treatment optimism. Results are inconsistent with the hypothesis of high prevention fatigue and treatment optimism among YMSM and point to potential causal relationships among these variables and condomless sex.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 289-301 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | AIDS Education and Prevention |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2017 |
Funding
Kathryn Macapagal, PhD, Michelle Birkett, PhD, Patrick Janulis, PhD, and Brian Mustanski, PhD, are affiliated with the Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois. Patrick Janulis and Brian Mustanski are also affiliated with the Third Coast Center for AIDS Research, Northwestern University. Robert Garofalo, MD, MPH, is affiliated with the Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Division of Adolescent Medicine, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Data collection for this study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA025548). Analyses and manuscript preparation were supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01DA036939), a postdoctoral training grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (T32 HS000078), and support from the Third Coast Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH funded center (P30AI117943). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. We are grateful to Janina Mayeux for her assistance with the literature review. Address correspondence to Kathryn Macapagal, Department of Medical Social Sciences, Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, 625 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60611. E-mail: [email protected]
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Medicine
