JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Young sexual minority men (YSMM) engage in cardiometabolic risk behaviors (e.g., substance use) at higher rates than their heterosexual counterparts. Theory and previous research suggest that these risk behaviors may stem, in part, from exposure to minority stress (i.e., discrimination based on sexual identity and/or other identities such as race).

Objective:

This pilot study sought to examine feasibility and acceptability of a virtual daily diary study that examined daily experiences with discrimination, cardiometabolic risk behaviors (i.e., sleep, physical activity, and substance use behaviors), and patterns of physiological stress and inflammation among YSMM aged 18-35.

Methods:

Participants (n = 20) were recruited from the greater New York metropolitan area and engaged in a 2-day daily diary protocol wherein participants provided online consent, took an online baseline survey, and then starting the next day provided 3 saliva samples a day for 2 consecutive days to measure salivary cortisol, engaged in 3 daily diaries per day, and provided 1 blood spot sample via the finger prick method to measure high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP). At follow-up, participants were interviewed via video conferencing to ascertain experiences and feelings related to the study protocol. Qualitative analyses explored feasibility and acceptability of the study protocol and exploratory quantitative analyses explored descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlations among our main study variables of interest.

Results:

Study retention was high (95%) among our study sample. Qualitative analyses demonstrated that participants were willing to engage in similar, longer-term studies in the future and suggested feasibility and acceptability of our study protocol among YSMM. However, participants noted several areas of improvement (e.g., redundancy of survey items, difficulty pricking one’s finger) that should be considered in future research. Preliminary quantitative analyses suggest that that daily cortisol curves differ between Black and white YSMM such that Black YSMM exhibit attenuated cortisol declines throughout the day compared to white YSMM.

Conclusions:

Overall, results suggest that similar study protocols are feasible and acceptable among YSMM. Future research should further highlight the pathways through which cardiovascular disease risk may arise among YSMM using longer-term study designs and more diverse study samples.