Substance Use among a National Sample of Asian/Pacific Islander Men Who Have Sex with Men in the U.S.

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to describe drug use among Asian/Pacific Islander (API) men who have sex with men (MSM) and to examine how nativity (and acculturation as a secondary correlate) predicted such use. A total of 445 self-identified API MSM from seven metropolitan cities participated in a national HIV serological testing and psychosocial and behavioral assessment study. Results indicate clubbing was significantly associated with higher levels of substance use. Additionally, participants who were U.S.-born were more likely to have reported marijuana use and those with higher levels of acculturation reported less marijuana use. Our bivariate findings suggest that foreign-born status and acculturation experience may provide a protective effect against marijuana use among API MSM. These associations largely did not hold in our multivariate models. Future research should more fully examine the role of acculturation and nativity in substance use behaviors.

Keywords:

• Asian and Pacific Islanders
• MSM
• substance use

Additional information

Funding

Preparation of this article was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01HD046354; PI: Wong) and the Emory Center for AIDS Research (P30 AI050409; Nehl and Wong). The funders had no further role in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.