COVID-19 Stigma and Discrimination in a North Indian State: A Concurrent Mixed Method Study.

We measured COVID-19-related stigma and discrimination and its drivers using a concurrent mixed-methods design in Punjab. The simple random sampling was used to select blocks, subcenters, and urban primary healthcenters from each of the four selected districts. The systematic random sampling was used to select households.

Associations between sexual stigma, enacted HIV stigma, internalized HIV stigma and homonegativity, and depression: testing an extended minority stress model among men who have sex with men living with HIV in India.

Limited data is available on the associations between intersectional stigmas and mental health outcomes among men who have sex with men living with HIV (MSMLH) in India. The minority stress model postulates that sexual stigma contributes to depression through proximal stressors like internalized homonegativity (IHN). Using cross-sectional survey data from 119 MSMLH in 2015/16, we tested whether: (1) sexual stigma and enacted HIV stigma (EHS) are associated with depression; (2) their effects on depression are mediated through IHN and internalized HIV stigma (IHS); and (3) their effects on IHN are mediated through IHS.

Reducing sexual risk and promoting acceptance of men who have sex with men living with HIV in India: Outcomes and process evaluation of a pilot randomised multi-level intervention.

HIV-positive men who have sex with men (HIV+MSM) in India need culturally-relevant interventions to promote safer sex. We tested a multi-level intervention among HIV+MSM that targeted individual, interpersonal, and community factors, based on the Social-Personal and Social Ecological Models. We conducted a 2 × 2 factorial RCT with 119 HIV+MSM randomised to receive either an individual-level intervention (ILI) using motivational interviewing to promote safer sex, a community-level intervention (CLI) to strengthen community norms toward safer sex and reduce stigma among MSM communities, a multi-level intervention combining the individual- and community-level interventions (ILI + CLI), or standard-of-care control.

Social capital as a mediator of the influence of socioeconomic position on health: Findings from a population-based cross-sectional study in Chandigarh, India.

Background: Social capital has been recognized as part of the WHO's Social Determinants of Health model given that social connections and relationships may serve as resources of information and tangible support. While the association between socioeconomic position and health is relatively well established, scant empirical research has been conducted in developing countries on the association between social capital and health.

Objective: Based on the WHO's Social Determinants of Health framework, we tested whether social capital mediates the effect of socioeconomic position on mental and physical health.

Contribution of social factors to maternal deaths in urban India: Use of care pathway and delay models.

This paper uses care pathway and delay models to better understand the possible social reasons for maternal deaths in a city with good public and private health infrastructure. The findings can inform programmes to reduce maternal mortality. During 2007-15, 136 maternal deaths were reported in Chandigarh, India.

Understanding How Sexual and Gender Minority Stigmas Influence Depression Among Trans Women and Men Who Have Sex with Men in India.

Purpose: Few studies have assessed how sexual and gender minority stigmas affect the mental health of trans women and self-identified men who have sex with men (MSM) in India, populations with a high HIV burden. We tested whether social support and resilient coping act as mediators of the effect of sexual and gender minority stigmas on depression as proposed by Hatzenbuehler's psychological mediation framework, or as moderators based on Meyer's minority stress theory.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among trans women (n = 300) and MSM (n = 300) recruited from urban and rural sites in India.