Associations Between Alters’ Characteristics and Alters’ Transformation into Alter-Egos
sexual behavior, HIV testing, preference for HIV testing, ’ transformation, HIV testing social norms, infection, alter-egos
INFECTION, RECRUITMENT
The following alters’ characteristics were included as independent variables to analyze their influence on alters’ transformation into offline ego recruiters (alter-egos) for the second recruitment wave: demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, MSM-related information, HIV e-report delivery information, HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing information, high-risk sexual behavior, HIV-related information, and social network characteristics. HIV/STI testing information included HIV testing, preference for HIV testing, STI testing, and self-report STI status. High-risk sexual behavior included having regular/casual partners in the past 3 months, having unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) with regular/casual partners in the past 3 months, and awareness of the HIV status of regular/casual partners. HIV-related information included intervened by any HIV prevention program, HIV risk perceptions, HIV stigma, and HIV testing social norms.The variables included in the egocentric social network analysis were similarity of characteristics, which is defined as the degree of consistency of demographic characteristics between each respondent (ego) and each of his associates (alter); and strength of relational ties, which is measured by the degree of relational intimacy. Demographic characteristics such as age, education, marriage, and income were collected from egos and alters, and similarities in social attributes between them were calculated using an edit distance algorithm [where 