Defining Intervention Targets Along Pathways From Cumulative Stress and Trauma to Alcohol and HIV Self-management Among Young People Living With HIV (Project DEFINE)

This is a correlational, longitudinal cohort study that will seek to evaluate the association of cumulative stress with self-management of alcohol (i.e. hazardous drinking) and HIV (viral suppression) among YPLWH. The study will enroll up to 175 participants between the ages of 18-29 who currently reside in Florida and are living with HIV.

In the Model phase, individuals will participate in two assessment timepoints, including baseline assessment with a two-week sleep diary completion and 9-month follow-up assessment with another two-week sleep diary completion. The aim of the model phase is to define key modifiable intervention targets by longitudinally evaluating multiple components of sleep health, and emotion and behavioral regulation among YPLWH to determine potential pathways between cumulative stress and alcohol and HIV outcomes, in the context of individual factors relevant to YPLWH (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, cannabis and other substance use, cognitive functioning, education), with an additional cross-project moderator aim to explore age, biological sex and gender, race/ethnicity, other substance use, and mental health as moderators.

In the Adapt phase, 42 of N=175 will participate in 60-90 minute focus groups, that will focus on adapting developmentally and culturally scalable measures of cumulative stress, sleep health, and emotion/behavior regulation for screening and intervention targeting, and creation of a community-informed toolkit of the adapted measures.