Pilot Awards Recipient: Thespina Yamanis, PhD

Social Context of Risk, Identity and Service Use among Adolescent Black MSM in DC
February 1, 2013
Photo of Thespina Yamanis

This study will provide preliminary data to guide the design of an intervention to increase service utilization and decrease sexual risk behavior among adolescent Black men who have sex with men (MSM), a high-risk group for which there has been insufficient attention in intervention research. We aim to 1) explore ways in which social networks and spaces facilitate or hinder adolescent Black MSM's sexual risk behavior and service use; and 2) explore in depth the process of Black MSM adolescents' initiation into same-sex sexual relations and development of sexual identity. Data addressing these aims will be collected using three methods. A computerized quantitative survey and social network interview will be conducted with 100 Black MSM, aged 14 to 17 years, recruited via respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in Washington, DC. Twenty-five in-depth interviews will be conducted with individuals selected from the RDS sample. Ethnographic observation of the 10 most frequently mentioned spaces where adolescent Black MSM socialize will also be performed. The identification of spaces where adolescent Black MSM participate in same-sex socializing and the exploration of social forces in those spaces will yield valuable contextual information for the development of an intervention, for which we plan to seek NIH funding. This project is innovative in its integrated examination of the social, spatial, and developmental contexts relevant for Black MSM to understand their sexual risk and service utilization. It is an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional effort between two investigators, one who is an early-stage investigator and the other who is new to HIV research.