1. A strengths-based risk reduction intervention for highly vulnerable urban gay men
Steven P. Kurtz, Ronald D. Stall and Hilary L. Surratt
Nova Southeastern University
Center for Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities
Resilience in American Gay and Bisexual Men:
A New Perspective on HIV Prevention Research and Programs
Fenway Health • June 23-24, • Boston

2. This research was supported by DHHS Grant R01 DA024579 from the
National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse or the National Institutes of Health.
There are no relationships to disclose.

3. Conceptual Model of MSM Health Risks

5. Psychological empowerment theory Marc Zimmerman (1995)

6. Group Intervention Approach
The 4 group sessions employ a motivational interviewing approach to emphasize :
A safe space to talk, building trust;
Open dialogue across age, ethnic, serostatus boundaries;
Critical awareness of others’ behavior norms, beliefs and motivations
………...

7. …………. Increasing sexual and friendship intimacy
Accessing broader social networks
Strengths-based repositioning of the fast lane scene
Making life changes; goal setting
Overcoming barriers

8. Demographics (N=517)
Age (median; range: ) 38 years Education (median) 14 years Income (median) $15,000 Race/Ethnicity N % Anglo Hispanic or Latino African American Other HIV

9. Current Substance Use (Past 90 days)
DSM Abuse: 74.2% DSM Dependence: 62.3%

10. Sexual behaviors (Past 90 days)
Means # male anal sex partners 13 # anal sex times 33 # times no condom 23 N % Sex with women – 12 mos Using sex to cope

12. Resiliency measures with variation and change
Measures of Activities / States
Brief COPE: How often have you been …..
Satisf. w/ relationships: How satisfied are you with….
Access to Social Capital: # people I can count on to …
Social Activity: # times in the past 90 days…

13. Resiliency measures with low variation (social acceptability?)
Measures of Attitudes / Opinions
Coping Self Efficacy: How confident are you ….
Personal Mastery: Agree/disagree
Resiliency: Agree/disagree
Social support scales, generally

14. Limitations: substance-using sample
psychological empowerment theory based
limited social capital measures
there are many other measures available
what else should we measure?