Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
AIDS Patient Care STDS. 2022 Oct;36(S1):S54-S64. doi: 10.1089/apc.2022.0089.
Young black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) with HIV experience disproportionate rates of trauma, incarceration, poverty, racial discrimination, and homophobia. The synergistic effects of these adverse experiences, along with increased rates of mental health disorders, increase their risk for poor health. To address this need, the study authors adapted a current HIV service model to include a peer-health navigation intervention (WITH U) to attend to behavioral health, health literacy, linkage to services, and psychosocial support for YBMSM with HIV. This longitudinal, mixed-methods, nonexperimental study reports on the mental health burden among participants and the association between participation in WITH U and mental wellness outcomes. Participants ( = 65) were an average age of 25-26 years (mean = 25.48, standard deviation = 2.51). Over 25% of participants reported clinically significant depression and/or anxiety symptoms and nearly half the participants reported experiencing post-traumatic stress symptoms that were at least moderately difficult to handle. Quantitative analyses indicated no significant positive association between intervention engagement and mental health symptoms; however, reporting a greater number of depression symptoms was associated with attending fewer intervention sessions. Qualitative data analysis revealed that participants' mental wellness was positively impacted by participating in the intervention and that participants preferred to receive mental wellness support from peer health navigators (HNs) rather than licensed mental health professionals. Yet, peer HNs did not feel adequately prepared to address participants' mental wellness concerns. Increased training for peer HNs and development of a linkage process to more formalized mental health services with community input may strengthen mental wellness support.
年轻的男男性行为者（YBMSM）如果感染了 HIV，他们会经历不成比例的创伤、监禁、贫困、种族歧视和恐同问题。这些负面经历的协同作用，加上心理健康障碍发生率的增加，增加了他们健康状况不佳的风险。为了解决这一需求，研究作者调整了现有的 HIV 服务模式，纳入了同伴健康导航干预（WITH U），以关注 YBMSM 与 HIV 相关的行为健康、健康素养、服务衔接和心理社会支持。这项纵向、混合方法、非实验性研究报告了参与者的心理健康负担，以及参与 WITH U 与心理健康结果之间的关联。参与者（n=65）的平均年龄为 25-26 岁（均值=25.48，标准差=2.51）。超过 25%的参与者报告有临床显著的抑郁和/或焦虑症状，近一半的参与者报告有创伤后应激症状，至少有一半的人觉得这些症状难以应对。定量分析表明，干预参与与心理健康症状之间没有显著的正相关；然而，报告的抑郁症状越多，参加的干预课程就越少。定性数据分析显示，参与者的心理健康受到参与干预的积极影响，并且参与者更喜欢接受同伴健康导航员（HNs）而不是持牌心理健康专业人员提供的心理健康支持。然而，同伴 HNs 觉得自己没有充分准备好解决参与者的心理健康问题。增加对同伴 HNs 的培训，并制定一个与社区合作的更正式心理健康服务的衔接过程，可能会加强心理健康支持。
