Stigma Toward Men Who Have Sex with Men Among Future Healthcare Providers in Malaysia: Would More Interpersonal Contact Reduce Prejudice?
Men who have sex with men (MSM) living in countries with strong stigma toward MSM are vulnerable to HIV and experience significant barriers to HIV care. Research is needed to inform interventions to reduce stigma toward MSM in these countries, particularly among healthcare providers. A cross-sectional survey of 1158 medical and dental students was conducted at seven Malaysian universities in 2012. Multivariate analyses of variance suggest that students who had interpersonal contact with MSM were less prejudiced toward and had lower intentions to discriminate against MSM. Path analyses with bootstrapping suggest stereotypes and fear mediate associations between contact with prejudice and discrimination. Intervention strategies to reduce MSM stigma among healthcare providers in Malaysia and other countries with strong stigma toward MSM may include facilitating opportunities for direct, in-person or indirect, media-based prosocial contact between medical and dental students with MSM.
Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. valerie.earnshaw@childrens.harvard.edu.|Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. valerie.earnshaw@childrens.harvard.edu.
Valerie A
VA
Earnshaw
ICON Clinical Research, 456 Montgomery Street, Suite 2200, San Francisco, CA, 94104, USA.
Harry
H
Jin
AIDS Program, Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, 135 College Street, Suite 323, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.|Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Jeffrey A
JA
Wickersham
AIDS Program, Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, 135 College Street, Suite 323, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.|Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 59100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Adeeba
A
Kamarulzaman
Department of Diagnostic and Integrated Dental Practice, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Jacob
J
John
Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sin How
SH
Lim
AIDS Program, Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, 135 College Street, Suite 323, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.|Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.|Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA.|Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, New Haven, CT, USA.
Frederick L
FL
Altice
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005239:Fear; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D063509:Homophobia; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D057545:Social Stigma; D013240:Stereotyping; D013335:Students, Dental / Q000523:psychology*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*
Contact hypothesis; Discrimination; HIV; MSM; Malaysia; Stigma