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Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Association between Arrest and Unprotected Anal Sex among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men: The P18 Cohort Study

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Abstract

This analysis aimed to determine whether the relationship between a history of arrest and unprotected anal sex (UAS) is the same for Black/Latino gay, bisexual, and other young men who have sex with men (YMSM) as compared to White/Asian/Pacific Islander (API) YMSM in New York City (NYC). Baseline audio-computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI) and interviewer-administered survey data from a sample of 576 YMSM aged 18–19 years old who self-reported being HIV-negative were analyzed. Data included history of arrest and incarceration as well as UAS in the past 30 days. Race/ethnicity was an effect modifier of the association between arrest and UAS among YMSM: White/API YMSM with a lifetime arrest history were more than three times as likely to report UAS, and Black/Latino YMSM with a lifetime history of arrest were approximately 70 % less likely to report UAS as compared with White/API YMSM with no reported arrest history. Race/ethnicity may modify the relationship between arrest and sexual risk behavior because the etiology of arrest differs by race, as partially evidenced by racial/ethnic disparities in police stop, arrest, and incarceration rates in NYC. Arrest could not only be an indicator of risky behavior for White/API YMSM but also an indicator of discrimination for Black/Latino YMSM. Further research is needed to assess whether the differential associations observed here vis-à-vis race/ethnicity are robust across different populations and different health outcomes.

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Acknowledgments

The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA025537). DCO was supported by the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR-P30 DA011041). The authors would like to thank the P18 study staff and participants.

The funder did not have a role in the analysis and development of this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Danielle C. Ompad.

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Ompad, D.C., Kapadia, F., Bates, F.C. et al. Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Association between Arrest and Unprotected Anal Sex among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men: The P18 Cohort Study. J Urban Health 92, 717–732 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-014-9931-2

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