Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39745665›Full record

ArticleHealth psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association2025

How community connection, homophobia, and racism shape gene expression in sexual minority men with and without HIV.

Jenna Alley, Jeffrey Gassen, Luis A Parra, Michele D Kipke, Jeremy T Goldbach, Steven W Cole, George M Slavich

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Jenna AlleyDepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.
Jeffrey GassenDepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.
Luis A ParraSchool of Nursing, University of Michigan.
Michele D KipkeChildren's Hospital Los Angeles.
Jeremy T GoldbachGeorge Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in Saint Louis.
Steven W ColeDepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.
George M SlavichDepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.ORCID 0000-0001-5710-3818

Funding

Young Men of Color Who Have Sex with Men Cohort StudyU01DA036926 · NIDA · CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF LOS ANGELES · PI GOLDBACH, JEREMY THOMAS, KIPKE, MICHELE D. · 2015 to 2024
$23.3M
California Governor's Office of Planning and Research; California Initiative to Advance Precision MedicineNIDA NIH HHS U01 DA036926
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveAlthough sexual minority men experience substantial discrimination, in addition to increased risk for several serious mental and somatic health problems, the biological mechanisms underlying these effects are unclear. To address this issue, we examined how experiences of social safety (i.e., community connection) and social threat (i.e., discrimination, in the forms of homophobia and racism) were related to conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA) gene expression profiles across time, and whether these associations differed across HIV status, in a well-characterized, racially diverse sample of sexual minority men (

methodExperiences of community connection, homophobia, and racism were assessed via self-report, and blood samples were obtained at three timepoints over approximately 2 years. We then used these blood samples to characterize participants' CTRA gene expression, which we quantified using an a priori 53-transcript composite score derived from RNA sequencing data from peripheral blood leukocytes.

resultsAs hypothesized, greater community connection was significantly related to decreased CTRA gene expression across time. These effects were similar regardless of HIV status and were robust to statistical adjustment for several potential confounding factors. In contrast, neither homophobia nor racism were related to CTRA gene expression.

conclusionThese results suggest that community connection may be a protective factor that reduces biological processes known to negatively impact health. Consequently, interventions and policies aimed at reducing health disparities in marginalized populations may benefit from increasing community connection and inclusion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Indexed as

Gene ExpressionHIV InfectionsHomophobiaHomosexuality, MaleRacismSexual and Gender MinoritiesAdultHumansMaleYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID39745665
PMCPMC11872150

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.