Date of Conferral
4-24-2025
Date of Award
April 2025
Degree
Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)
School
Public Health
Advisor
Patrick Tschida
Abstract
HIV infections continue to rise in the Southern United States, with Black and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM), bisexual men, and women experiencing disproportionate impacts. Although pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective biomedical intervention for reducing HIV transmission, disparities in its uptake remain due to healthcare stereotype threat, felt stigma, and everyday discrimination. This quantitative cross-sectional study analyzed secondary data from the Generations: A Study of the Life and Health of LGB People in a Changing Society (2016–2019) to examine the relationship between these psychosocial barriers and PrEP use among Black/Latino MSM, bisexual men, and women aged 18 to 59 residing in the Southern United States (N = 100). Guided by intersectionality theory, two research questions explored whether healthcare stereotype threat, felt stigma, everyday discrimination, and social support were associated with current PrEP use, controlling for cohort, health insurance status, employment status, relationship status, and educational attainment. Fisher’s exact tests were employed to assess statistical significance. Results revealed that healthcare stereotype threat (p < .05) and race (p < .05) were significantly associated with PrEP use in both models, while felt stigma, everyday discrimination, and social support were not. These findings underscore the critical need for culturally responsive public health interventions to address stereotype threat and promote equitable access to PrEP among high-risk populations in the Southern United States.
Recommended Citation
Poole, Aieshia Brooks, "Stereotype, Stigma, and Discrimination and PrEP Use Among Black and Latino Men and Women" (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 17648.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/17648
