title: Gender Abuse and Incident HIV/STI Among Transgender Women in New York City: Buffering Effect of Involvement in a Transgender Community.
abstract: In a 3 year prospective study of 230 transgender women from the New York City Area, we further examined associations of gender-related abuse with HIV sexual risk behavior and incident HIV/STI, focusing here and the extent to which these associations are buffered by involvement in a transgender community. Largely consistent with the prior study, gender abuse was longitudinally associated with unprotected receptive anal intercourse (URAI) with casual and commercial sex partners, and the presumed biological outcome of this behavioral risk, new cases of HIV/STI. Both of these associations, gender abuse with URAI and HIV/STI, were significantly buffered by transgender community involvement (interaction effects). However, independent of these interaction effects, transgender community involvement was also positively associated with URAI and HIV/STI (direct effects). HIV prevention in this population should emphasize the benefits of interactions with transgender peers while also emphasizing the importance of resisting normative permission for HIV risk behavior from these same peers.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Treatment and Services Research at the National Development and Research Institutes (NDRI), 71 West 23rd Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY, 10010, USA, lnuttbrock@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nuttbrock
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bockting
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosenblum
authors.forename: Sel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hwahng
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Macri
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Becker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D000066511:Intimate Partner Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012747:Sexual Partners; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D063106:Transgender Persons / Q000523:psychology*; D014189:Transsexualism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*