How heterogeneous are MSM from Brazilian cities? An analysis of sexual behavior and perceived risk and a description of trends in awareness and willingness to use pre-exposure prophylaxis.

BACKGROUND: Brazil has the largest population of individuals living with HIV/AIDS in Latin America, with a disproportional prevalence of infection among gays, bisexuals and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Of relevance to prevention and treatment efforts, Brazilian MSM from different regions may differ in behaviors and risk perception related to HIV. METHODS: We report on MSM living in 29 different cities: 26 Brazilian state capitals, the Federal District and two large cities in São Paulo state assessed in three web-based surveys (2016-2018) advertised on Grindr, Hornet and Facebook. Using logistic regression models, we assessed the association of risk behavior with HIV perceived risk as well as factors associated with high-risk behavior. RESULTS: A total of 16,667 MSM completed the survey. Overall, MSM from the North and Northeast were younger, more black/mixed-black, of lower income and lower education compared to MSM from the South, Southeast and Central-west. Though 17% had never tested for HIV (with higher percentages in the North and Northeast), condomless receptive anal sex (previous 6 months) and high-risk behavior as per HIV Incidence Risk scale for MSM were observed for 41 and 64%, respectively. Sexual behavior and HIV perceived risk had low variability by city and high-risk behavior was strongly associated with high HIV perceived risk. Younger age, being gay/homosexual, having a steady partner, binge drinking, report of sexually transmitted infection (STI) and ever testing for HIV were associated with increased odds of high-risk behavior. Awareness and willingness to use PrEP increased from 2016 to 2018 in most cities. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, MSM socio-demographic characteristics were heterogeneous among Brazilian cities, but similarities were noted among the cities from the same administrative region with a marked exception of the Federal District not following the patterns for the Central-West. Combination HIV prevention is most needed among young men who self-identify as gay/homosexual, report binge drinking or prior STI.

Social Desirability Bias in self-reported well-being Measures: Evidence from an online survey / Sesgo de deseabilidad social en las medidas de bienestar por autoinforme: evidencia de una encuesta en línea

Abstract Social desirability seems to enhance well-being measures because individuals tend to increase the degree of their satisfaction and happiness resulting in response artifacts and in a serious threat to the validity of self-reported data. This paper explores social desirability bias in self-reported subjective well-being, controlling for several socio-demographic variables such as gender, age, education, marital/relationship status, and employment status. This is in order to test whether social desirability has incremental validity in predicting some well-being measures. Three different facets of well-being are proposed which deal with subjective happiness, general life satisfaction, and gratitude and loneliness, respectively regarded as a positive and negative emotional response. Through a web-based survey a convenience sample of 170 participants completed an online questionnaire including measures of social desirability, subjective happiness, life satisfaction, gratitude, and loneliness. Correlation analyses and two-step hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted. All well-being measures show modest significant correlations with social desirability ranging from 0.235 to 0.309, except subjective happiness. Social desirability accounted for from about 3% to 6% of the variance of these measures, after controlling for socio-demographic variables. Social desirability seems thus to play little role in well-being self-report measures, as revealed by previous studies. Some limitations are discussed, as well as issues about social desirability bias in online investigation.

Resumen La deseabilidad social parece mejorar las medidas de bienestar, pues los individuos tienden a aumentar el grado de satisfacción y felicidad que resulta en artefactos de respuesta y en una seria amenaza para la validez de los datos por autoinforme. Este artículo explora el sesgo de deseabilidad social en el bienestar subjetivo autodeclarado, controlando variables sociodemográficas, como el género, la edad, la educación, el estado civil/familiar y la situación laboral, con el fin de probar si la deseabilidad social tiene un incremento en la validez para predecir algunas medidas de bienestar. Se proponen tres facetas del bienestar que tratan de la felicidad subjetiva: 1. la satisfacción general con la vida, 2. la gratitud y 3. la soledad, respectivamente, consideradas como una respuesta emocional positiva y negativa. A través de una encuesta en línea, una muestra de conveniencia de 170 participantes completó un cuestionario en línea que incluía medidas de deseabilidad social, felicidad subjetiva, satisfacción con la vida, gratitud y soledad. Se realizaron análisis de correlación y análisis de regresión jerárquica de dos etapas. Todas las medidas de bienestar muestran modestas correlaciones significativas con deseabilidad social que van desde 0.235 a 0.309, excepto la felicidad subjetiva. La deseabilidad social representó entre 3 y 6 % de la varianza de estas medidas, después de controlar las variables sociodemográficas. Por tanto, la deseabilidad social parece desempeñar un papel pequeño en las medidas de autorreporte de bienestar, como lo revelaron estudios previos. Se discuten algunas limitaciones y cuestiones sobre el sesgo de deseabilidad social en la investigación en en línea.

Sleep duration and school performance in Korean adolescents / Duración del sueño y desempeño escolar en adolescentes coreanos

Background This study investigated the relationship between sleep duration and school performance in Korean adolescents. Methods In 2012, 63 688 adolescents participated in the 8th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey (KYRBWS-VIII) project. The relationship between sleep duration and school performance was evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analysis after adjustment for covariate variables, including body mass index, age, parental education, economic status, mental stress, smoking, alcohol consumption, breakfast patterns, and three measures of physical activity. Results For boys, but not for girls, 5-6 hours of sleep/night were related to average or better academic performance (OR: 1.094, 95% CI [1.011-1.182], p=0.025) compared to ≤4 hours/night. For both boys and girls, nine or more hours/night were negatively related to academic performance (boys: 0.657, [0.554-0.779; p<0.001]; girls: ≥9 hours/night, 0.664 [0.572-0.771], p<0.001) compared to ≤4 hours/night. Conclusion Whilst it may appear that five to six hours of sleep are necessary to maintain average or better than average school performance for boys, nine or more hours are detrimental to school performance for both groups. This study was limited by the following factors: data were collected only for weekdays and it is. Other sleep variables, such as quality of sleep and sleepiness, should be investigated for a further understanding of these results.

Antecedentes En este estudio se investigó la relación entre la duración del sueño y el desempeño escolar en adolescentes coreanos. Métodos En 2012, 63 688 adolescentes participaron en el octavo proyecto de Estudio de Conducta de Riesgo Juvenil Basado en la Red (KYRBWS-VIII, por sus siglas en inglés). La relación entre la duración del sueño y el desempeño escolar se evaluó mediante un análisis de regresión logística multivariada tras ajustar para las variables covariadas, incluyendo índice de masa corporal, edad, nivel educativo de los padres, posición económica, estrés mental, consumo de tabaco, consumo de alcohol, patrones en el desayuno y tres mediciones de actividad física. Resultados En el caso de los chicos, pero no así en el de las chicas, de cinco a seis horas de sueño por noche se relacionaron con un desempeño académico promedio o mejor que el promedio (R.M.: 1.094, 95% CI [1.011-1.182], p=0.025) en comparación con ≤ cuatro horas/ noche. Tanto para los chicos como para las chicas, nueve o más horas/noche se relacionaron de forma negativa con el desempeño académico (chicos: 0.657 [0.554-0.779; p<0.001]; chicas ≥9 horas/noche, 0.664 [0.572-0.771], p<0.001) en comparación con ≤4 horas/noche. Conclusión Para los chicos, de cinco a seis horas de sueño son necesarias para mantener un desempeño escolar promedio o mejor que el promedio, en tanto que nueve o más horas son perjudiciales para el desempeño escolar de tanto los chicos como las chicas. Otras variables del sueño, como la calidad del sueño y la somnolencia, deben investigarse para obtener una mejor comprensión de estos resultados.