Health-Risk Behaviors

A third objective of my program of research is to investigate health-risk behaviors among LGBTQ people.  Using longitudinal data from P18, my past research indicates that substance use behaviors increase over time among YMSM.  They also point to increased risk for HIV infection over time, as a result of increased frequency of condomless anal sex behaviors.  Additionally, measurement models demonstrate the persistence of a latent construct that captures the co-occurrence of condomless sex, substance use, and mental health problems among YMSM over time (i.e., a syndemic).  Taken together, these findings indicate that there is indeed a synergistic constellation of health-related factors that continue to drive the disparity in HIV infections, substance use disorders, and mental health problems experienced by YMSM.  These findings have been published in AIDS and Behavior, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, and Substance Use & Misuse. 

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Presently, I am collaborating with researchers at Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to investigate the relationship between trust and disclosure of sexual behavior to primary care physicians among gay and bisexual men. 

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Publications

Halkitis, P. N., Bub, K., Stults, C. B., Bates, F. C., & Kapadia, F. (2018). Latent growth curve modeling of non-injection drug use and condomless sexual behavior from ages 18 to 21 in gay, bisexual, and other YMSM: The P18 cohort study. Substance Use & Misuse, 53(1), 101-113.

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Kapadia, F., Bub, K., Barton, S., Stults, C. B., & Halkitis, P. N. (2015). Longitudinal trends in sexual behaviors without a condom among sexual minority youth: The P18 cohort study. AIDS and Behavior, 19(12), 2152-2161.

Halkitis, P. N., Kapadia, F., Bub, K. L., Barton, S., Moreira, A. D., & Stults, C. B. (2015). A longitudinal investigation of syndemic conditions among young gay, bisexual, and other MSM: The P18 cohort study. AIDS and Behavior, 19(6), 970-980.

Halkitis, P.N., Siconolfi, D.E., Stults, C.B., Barton, S., Bub, J., & Kapadia, F. (2014). Modeling substance use in emerging adult gay, bisexual, and other YMSM across time: The P18 cohort study. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 145, 209-216.