# HIV risk and prevention behavior and the role of social support networks among precariously housed youth: A mixed-methods study

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2024 · $20,727

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
An estimated 3.5 million youth between the ages of 18 and 25 experience homelessness in the U.S. each year.
Relative to their stably housed peers, youth experiencing homelessness (YEH) are vulnerable to a multitude of
risks affecting their health and well-being, including substance abuse, mental health challenges, victimization,
and death. YEH are also more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors and are up to 10 times more likely to
contract HIV compared to their housed peers. Key to understanding the HIV risk and prevention behaviors of
YEH are their social networks—their web of personal social interactions and relationships. Increased HIV risk
among YEH has been tied to involvement in social networks with risk-taking peers and predominantly the
consequence of unsafe sex over injection drug use and needle sharing. Conversely, connections to family and
pro-social peers have been demonstrated to influence HIV prevention behaviors among YEH, including
condom use and HIV testing. However, the effect of different living situations among YEH—and particularly of
precarious housing (i.e., “couch-surfing” or temporarily staying with others)—on HIV risk and prevention
behaviors remains largely unknown. A sizable portion of the YEH population reports living in precarious
housing, and current evidence also suggests that that youth of color and youth identifying as LGBTQ+ are
more likely to be precariously housed compared to other YEH, populations that also carry disproportionate risk
for HIV. The proposed mixed-methods study has three aims. Aims 1 and 2 will use an existing dataset from
Have You Heard?, a longitudinal study of a peer leader training intervention for HIV prevention among YEH in
Los Angeles, California. Aim 1 will entail conducting an egocentric social network analysis to investigate
whether precarious housing and social support are associated with HIV risk (e.g., transactional sex,
condomless sex, sex under the influence, concurrent sex partners) and prevention (e.g., recent HIV testing and
PrEP awareness and use) behaviors among YEH. Aim 2 will use latent class analysis to explore the
heterogeneity of YEH based on living situation and social support networks in order to examine (a) whether
LGBTQ+ identity, racial/ethnic minority status, and duration of homelessness relate to emergent subgroups
and (b) whether HIV risk and prevention behaviors vary across these emergent subgroups. Aim 3 will entail
conducting qualitative interviews with precariously housed youth (n = 20) to explore how social support
networks and housing status influence HIV risk and prevention behaviors among precariously housed YEH.
This study will expand knowledge regarding HIV risk and prevention behaviors among YEH, paving the way for
the development of more tailored HIV prevention interventions for this vulnerable population. In addition, the PI
will receive training in understanding HIV risk and prevention among vulnerable youth population...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10873728
- **Project number:** 5F31MH134694-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Laura Petry
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $20,727
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2024-08-06

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10873728

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10873728, HIV risk and prevention behavior and the role of social support networks among precariously housed youth: A mixed-methods study (5F31MH134694-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10873728. Licensed CC0.

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