Love on Lockdown: How Social Networks Shape Sexual Behavior Among African American Women with Incarcerated Partners

Introduction: One out of nine African American men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, resulting in many African-American women losing partners to incarceration.  Research suggests that partner incarceration may contribute to partner concurrency; however, factors associated with women’s decisions to begin new sexual partnerships have not been studied. The purpose of this study is to better understand the social context relevant to partner concurrency during periods of partner incarceration, and associated sexual health implications.

Methods:This study was a cross-sectional analysis of 6 month follow up data from the CHAT Project, a social-network based HIV/STD prevention study in Baltimore, MD. Participants were N=175 African American women, with a mean age of 41.5 years (SD=8.04), who reported ever having had a partner who was incarcerated for at least six months during the relationship. Half of the sample (N=88, 50.3%) reported having at least one other sexual partner, while their partner was incarcerated. After obtaining written informed consent, participants answered survey questions assessing individual and social network factors. All multiple regression models controlled for the potential effects of age and level of education.

Results:Several factors emerged as significant correlates of partner concurrency in the wake of incarceration. Results from linear regression models found that women who initiated new sexual partnerships reported a significantly higher number of drug using sexual partners in their social network (OR=.24, p=.009), fewer female kin relationships (OR=-.59, p=.026), lower levels of trust for network members (OR=-.89, p=.001), shorter length of time (in months) having known network members (OR=  -27.79, p=.048), a higher number of sexual partners who provided resources in exchange for sex (OR=.47, p<.001) a higher number of sexual partners they were dependent upon financially (OR=.63, p<.001) and a significantly higher likelihood of having one or more STD positive partners in the past 90 days (OR=11.55, p=.022), compared to women who did not initiate new sexual partnerships during their partner's incarceration. 

Conclusions: Results of this study demonstrate that social network characteristics may be crucial to understanding partner concurrency and increased sexual risk among African American urban women, who have lost a partner to incarceration. Social-network-based interventions, that provide instrumental and social resources to women who have experienced the loss of a partner to incarceration, may be important tools in reducing the disproportionate burden of STIs/HIV in this population.