Social Dynamics of HIV Transmission: Volume 1, Social Networks and Racial Disparities

This volume describes the consequences of network structure and longitudinal network change on HIV transmission. The volume uses the racial distribution of HIV as an effective point of leverage for evaluating several theories of HIV transmission. The volume describes two NIDA-funded projects carried out in Houston, Texas, that comprise the Risk Networks Study. The first project interviewed 267 drug users and nonusers who described 1388 sex, drug use, and close partners. The second, a longitudinal study, interviewed 202 participants every three months for three years as they described 4240 partners. Simulations are used to investigate the effects of number of sex and drug use partners, selection of partners, and choices of behaviors with partners over time. Results show how racial disparities in HIV incidence arise in large part from differences in partner choice (serosorting) and relationship trajectory (seroadaptation). They show the vulnerability of relationships formed with partners from outside the social neighborhood. The most striking results of this research is the demonstration that network change is the most devastating factor in HIV spread but that behavior choice within relationships (including attrition) is the most protective factor.