TY - JOUR
T1 - Neighborhood social disorder as a determinant of drug injection behaviors
T2 - A structural equation modeling approach
AU - Latkin, Carl A.
AU - Williams, Chyvette T.
AU - Wang, Jian
AU - Curry, Aaron D.
PY - 2005/1
Y1 - 2005/1
N2 - Neighborhood environments are increasingly recognized as a contextual determinant of health, behaviors, and disease; however, the pathways through which neighborhood characteristics impact health behaviors are poorly understood. This article examines pathways to elucidate how neighborhood social disorder may lead to HIV transmission. Data are from a baseline survey of 701 injection drug users from the Self-Help in Eliminating Lethal Diseases Study, an HIV prevention intervention in Baltimore. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the pathways among social disorder, psychological distress, and drug injection behaviors. The relationship between disorder and injection behaviors in the models tested suggests that psychological distress is higher in more socially disordered neighborhoods, that distress leads to greater injection frequency and equipment sharing, and that injection frequency predicts equipment sharing.
AB - Neighborhood environments are increasingly recognized as a contextual determinant of health, behaviors, and disease; however, the pathways through which neighborhood characteristics impact health behaviors are poorly understood. This article examines pathways to elucidate how neighborhood social disorder may lead to HIV transmission. Data are from a baseline survey of 701 injection drug users from the Self-Help in Eliminating Lethal Diseases Study, an HIV prevention intervention in Baltimore. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the pathways among social disorder, psychological distress, and drug injection behaviors. The relationship between disorder and injection behaviors in the models tested suggests that psychological distress is higher in more socially disordered neighborhoods, that distress leads to greater injection frequency and equipment sharing, and that injection frequency predicts equipment sharing.
KW - HIV transmission
KW - Injection drug users
KW - Neighborhood disorganization
KW - Psychological distress
KW - Structural equation modeling
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U2 - 10.1037/0278-6133.24.1.96
DO - 10.1037/0278-6133.24.1.96
M3 - Article
C2 - 15631567
AN - SCOPUS:12144283433
SN - 0278-6133
VL - 24
SP - 96
EP - 100
JO - Health Psychology
JF - Health Psychology
IS - 1
ER -