Condom Use and Social Capital Among Filipinx Transgender Women and Cisgender Men Who Have Sex with Men (Trans-WSM and Cis-MSM): a Structural Equation Modeling

Introduction The HIV crisis in the Philippines is driven largely due to condomless sex among communities of transgender women and cisgender men who have sex with men (trans-WSM and cis-MSM, respectively). Condom use could be promoted by increasing social capital in these communities because social capital might increase one’s condom use self-efficacy. Methods We performed mediational analysis using a survey data (June 2018–May 2019) with 318 Filipinx trans-WSM and cis-MSM. Results In our final standardized structural equational modeling adjusted for gender, age, location, and income, higher social capital was significantly associated with self-efficacy in condom initiation/negotiation ( β = 0.47, p < 0.001), and self-efficacy in condom initiation/negotiation was strongly associated with condom use ( β = 0.61, p < 0.001). Moreover, we found that self-efficacy in condom initiation/negotiation fully mediated the relationship between social capital and condom use (β_before mediation = 0.16, p < 0.05 vs. β_after mediation = 0.01, p > 0.05). Conclusion Future HIV prevention interventions should consider promoting social capital among communities of trans-WSM and cis-MSM in the Philippines.