Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022;57(2):295-307.
doi: 10.1080/10826084.2021.2003404. Epub 2021 Dec 10.

Loneliness, Risky Beliefs and Intentions about Practicing Safer Sex among Methamphetamine Dependent Individuals

Mariam A Hussain  1   2 , Ni Sun-Suslow  1 , Jessica L Montoya  1 , Jennifer E Iudicello  1 , Robert K Heaton  1 , Igor Grant  1 , Erin E Morgan  1 ; TMARC Group  1
Affiliations

Loneliness, Risky Beliefs and Intentions about Practicing Safer Sex among Methamphetamine Dependent Individuals

Mariam A Hussain et al. Subst Use Misuse. 2022.

Abstract

Background: Methamphetamine use is a known predictor of riskier sexual behaviors, which can have important public health implications (e.g., HIV-transmission risk). Loneliness also is associated with riskier sexual behaviors, though the relationship between loneliness and beliefs and/or intentions to practice safer sex has not been examined among people dependent on methamphetamine.

Materials and methods: Individuals who met DSM-IV criteria for lifetime methamphetamine dependence and current (≤ 18-months) methamphetamine abuse or dependence (METH+ n = 56) were compared to those without severity and recency of methamphetamine use (METH- n = 59). These groups did not differ on social network size or proportion of people with HIV (∼58% HIV+). Participants completed the NIH Toolbox Loneliness Scale and the Sexual Risks Scale's "Norms" and "Intentions" subscales.

Results: METH+ individuals were significantly lonelier than METH- controls (t(113) = 2.45, p = .02). Methamphetamine dependence remained significantly associated with greater loneliness, after controlling for HIV status and other relevant covariates (e.g., neurocognitive impairment, history of mood disorder, social network size; F = 3.70, Adjusted R2 = 0.18, p = .0009). Loneliness, above and beyond the aforementioned covariates, was significantly associated with riskier beliefs and intentions to practice safer sex among METH+, but not METH-, individuals (β = 2.92, p = .02).

Conclusions: Loneliness is prevalent among individuals dependent on methamphetamine, and is uniquely associated with riskier beliefs and intentions regarding practicing safer sex. Findings may aid in identifying individuals at-risk of engaging in riskier sexual behaviors and guide risk prevention strategies.

Keywords: HIV; Loneliness; methamphetamine dependence; norms; risky sexual behavior.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
(a) Mean loneliness T-scores between METH − and METH+ groups. b) Percent of individuals reaching potentially problematic levels of Loneliness (T > 60) in METH − and METH+ groups.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The interaction between the degree of loneliness (within normal range and potentially problematic) and methamphetamine status (METH − and METH+) on personal beliefs and norms about practicing safer sex.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The interaction between the degree of loneliness (within normal range and potentially problematic) and methamphetamine status (METH − and METH+) on intentions to practice safer sex.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abell JG, Abell J, Cadar D, Llewellyn DJ, & Steptoe A (2019). Loneliness, social isolation, and domains of cognitive impairment in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Innovation in Aging, 3(Suppl_1), S190–S191. 10.1093/geroni/igz038.684 - DOI
    1. APA. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
    1. Babakhanyan I, McKenna BS, Casaletto KB, Nowinski CJ, & Heaton RK (2018). National institutes of health toolbox emotion battery for English- and Spanish-speaking adults: Normative data and factor-based summary scores. Patient Related Outcome Measures, 9, 115–127. 10.2147/PROM.S151658 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Beller J, & Wagner A (2018a). Disentangling loneliness: Differential effects of subjective loneliness, network quality, network size, and living alone on physical, mental, and cognitive health. Journal of Aging and Health, 30(4), 521–539. 10.1177/0898264316685843 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beller J, & Wagner A (2018b). Loneliness, social isolation, their synergistic interaction, and mortality. Health Psychology : Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 37(9), 808–813. 10.1037/hea0000605 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Substances