Drug use and emotional distress differentiate unstably- versus stably-housed adults living with HIV who engage in unprotected sex

Elizabeth Mayfield Arnold, Katherine A. Desmond, Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, Aaron Scheffler, W. Scott Comulada, Mallory O. Johnson, Jeffrey A. Kelly

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Among adults living with HIV, unstable housing is a barrier to health. Stably- and unstably-housed adults living with HIV were assessed for over 25 months. At baseline, unstably-housed adults living with HIV had a more recent HIV diagnosis, higher viral loads, worse physical and mental health, lower rates of antiretroviral therapy use and insurance coverage, and higher rates of hard drug use than stably-housed adults living with HIV. At follow-up, the health of both groups was similar, but unstably-housed adults living with HIV reported significantly more hard drug use and mental health symptoms when compared to the stably-housed adults living with HIV. Drug and mental health risks decreased for both groups, but decreases in unprotected sex were greater among unstably-housed adults living with HIV.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)302-313
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Health Psychology
Volume22
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • HIV
  • high-risk sex
  • mental health
  • physical health
  • substance use
  • unstably-housed adults living with HIV

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Applied Psychology

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