Social support and amphetamine-type stimulant use among female sex workers in China

ABSTRACT

Background: Existing research has suggested a positive role of social support in reducing drug use among female sex workers (FSWs). However, there is limited research on the role of social support in amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) use among FSWs in China. This study explored the present situation of ATS use among FSWs in Guangxi, China and examined the associations of different types of social support from different sources with ATS use.

Method: A sample of 1022 FSWs was recruited from 56 commercial sex venues in Guangxi Autonomous Region in China. Bivariate comparison was used to compare demographic characteristics and source of emotional or tangible social support across frequency of ATS use among FSWs. The relationship between social support and ATS use was examined using multiple ordinal logistic regression models controlling for the potential confounding effects of demographic variables.

Results: The multiple ordinal logistic regression indicated that FSWs who were from younger age groups (aOR = 10.88 for age group <20; aOR = 2.80 for age group 20–23), and from all higher-income venues (aOR = 1.96 for venue level 1; aOR = 2.28 for venue level 2; aOR = 1.81 for venue level 3) tended to use ATS more frequently. They also tended to use ATS more frequently when they depended on their boyfriends (aOR = 1.08) for emotional support or on their co-workers for tangible support (aOR = 1.17).

Conclusions: Different types of social support from different sources can be either positively or negatively associated with ATS use among FSWs, therefore, the future intervention efforts should differentiate and target different types and different sources of social support in response to the living and work conditions of FSWs.

KEYWORDS:

• Amphetamine-type stimulants
• female sex workers
• social support
• China

Acknowledgement

The authors want to thank the on-site research team for conducting the survey and owners or gatekeepers for helping us to approach the female sex workers. We also thank female sex workers who participated in our survey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The study described in this report was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [grant number R01AA018090]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 71673146]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, or any of the other funding agencies.