Testing the Partnership-Health Association among African American Men Who Have Sex with Men

Partnered individuals frequently report better psychological health and health behaviors than singletons. Few studies have examined this partnership-health association among African American men who have sex with men (AAMSM), even though such partnerships may differ meaningfully from other partnerships. We used t-tests on self-reported data among AAMSM (N=229) participating in an HIV-prevention intervention, to compare AAMSM with a primary male partner (n=147) to AAMSM with no primary male partner (n=82), on measures of psychosocial health and health behaviors. Partnered AAMSM reported less social isolation, fewer female sexual partners, and more drug use. Potential explanations of these mixed findings are discussed.