Concurrent partnerships speed transmission of HIV through sexual networks much more effectively than does serial monogamy with the same total number of sexual partners. The social and economic environment in which many African Americans live discourages long-term monogamy and promotes concurrent partnerships. Extensive involvement in concurrency may be a key factor in the epidemics of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among African Americans. We propose the following hypotheses: (1) African American men and women are more likely than white men and women to have had heterosexual concurrent partnerships during the preceding 12 months. (2)Involvement in concurrent partnerships is related to lower community sex ratio, education, and marriage rates, and to higher unemployment, poverty and crime rates. These adverse social and economic conditions will largely account for the racial difference in concurrency. We will test these hypotheses through multilevel analyses in the over 12,000 men and women who participated in the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. We will compare dates of first and last sexual intercourse with each of up to three partners in the past year, to identify concurrent partnerships. Data analyses will examine racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence, characteristics, and extent of involvement in concurrent partnerships among men and women. Stratified and multiple logistic regression analyses will investigate associations with individual-level variables (e.g., sexual history, marital status, and socioeconomic indicators) and, through multilevel analyses, with aspects of the social and economic environment. The study constitutes an important first step in development of future intervention studies and policies to effectively decrease the racial disparity in HIV infection rates. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
1R21HD054293-01A1
Application #
7229331
Study Section
Behavioral and Social Science Approaches to Preventing HIV/AIDS Study Section (BSPH)
Program Officer
Newcomer, Susan
Project Start
2007-04-20
Project End
2009-03-31
Budget Start
2007-04-20
Budget End
2008-03-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$216,939
Indirect Cost
Name
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
608195277
City
Chapel Hill
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27599
Adimora, Adaora A; Schoenbach, Victor J; Taylor, Eboni M et al. (2013) Sex ratio, poverty, and concurrent partnerships among men and women in the United States: a multilevel analysis. Ann Epidemiol 23:716-9
Taylor, Eboni M; Behets, Frieda M; Schoenbach, Victor J et al. (2011) Coparenting and sexual partner concurrency among white, black, and Hispanic men in the United States. Sex Transm Dis 38:293-8
Adimora, Adaora A; Schoenbach, Victor J; Taylor, Eboni M et al. (2011) Concurrent partnerships, nonmonogamous partners, and substance use among women in the United States. Am J Public Health 101:128-36
Adimora, Adaora A; Schoenbach, Victor J; Floris-Moore, Michelle A (2009) Ending the epidemic of heterosexual HIV transmission among African Americans. Am J Prev Med 37:468-71
Khan, Maria R; Doherty, Irene A; Schoenbach, Victor J et al. (2009) Incarceration and high-risk sex partnerships among men in the United States. J Urban Health 86:584-601
Doherty, Irene A; Schoenbach, Victor J; Adimora, Adaora A (2009) Condom use and duration of concurrent partnerships among men in the United States. Sex Transm Dis 36:265-72
Adimora, Adaora A; Schoenbach, Victor J; Doherty, Irene A (2007) Concurrent sexual partnerships among men in the United States. Am J Public Health 97:2230-7