Contextual influences on Latino men’s sexual and substance use behaviors following immigration to the Midwestern United States

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Latinos in the United States experience a disproportionate number of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and higher use of alcohol and illegal drugs, which has been attributed to increases in risk behaviors following immigration. Whereas substantial research documents these behavioral changes, little is known about how immigrants increase their risk or why some immigrants increase their risk and other immigrants do not. This study explored how the social and normative context affects sexual and substance use behaviors among Latino immigrant men in a midsized Midwestern city of the United States.

Methods: We interviewed 64 Latino immigrant men recruited from community sites in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (mean age = 32.6 years). Participants reported the social and normative contexts preceding and following immigration, including social networks and support, perceptions of the law, and familiar and peer normative influences.

Results: Immigrants attributed changes in their sexual and substance use behaviors to their immigration goals, social support, peer and familial normative influences, and restrictions related to their immigrant status. Immigration for economic and personal advancement was generally protective from behaviors that would interfere with those goals as were extended familial networks that could provide support, resources, and normative control. The need to stay under the radar of authorities, the proportion of Latinos in the community, the social and normative changes associated with immigrants’ age, and the higher perceptions of risk for HIV in the United States compared with their home countries also influenced immigrants’ sexual and substance use behaviors.

Conclusions: Changes in risk behavior after immigration to the United States reflect a combination of social and normative factors and personal goals. Interventions and policies aiming to prevent HIV and substance use among Latino immigrants should understand the contextual conditions that decrease or increase their risk behaviors in the United States.

KEYWORDS:

• Latinos
• immigrants
• substance use
• sexual risk behavior
• HIV
• contextual factors
• Midwest
• United States

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health under Grant R34 MH100947; Grant R21 MH093242; and Grant P30 MH052776. The authors want to thank the Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers’ staff for their invaluable input and support as well as the community sites and organizations that assisted with the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health [grant number P30 MH052776,R21 MH093242,R34 MH100947].