Social Capital and Risk of Concurrent Sexual Partners Among African Americans in Jackson, Mississippi

Concurrent sexual partnerships (i.e., relationships that overlap in time) contribute to higher HIV acquisition risk. Social capital, defined as resources and connections available to individuals is hypothesized to reduce sexual HIV risk behavior, including sexual concurrency. Additionally, we do not know whether any association between social capital and sexual concurrency is moderated by gender. Multivariable logistic regression tested the association between social capital and sexual concurrency and effect modification by gender. Among 1445 African Americans presenting for care at an urban STI clinic in Jackson, Mississippi, mean social capital was 2.85 (range 1–5), mean age was 25 (SD = 6), and 62% were women. Sexual concurrency in the current year was lower for women compared to men (45% vs. 55%, χ²(df = 1) = 11.07, p =.001). Higher social capital was associated with lower adjusted odds of sexual concurrency for women compared to men (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 0.62 (95% CI 0.39–0.97), p = 0.034), controlling for sociodemographic and psychosocial covariates. Interventions that add social capital components may be important for lowering sexual risk among African Americans in Mississippi.