Risk and Resilience Trajectories from Adverse Childhood Experience Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) significantly contribute to health disparities among minoritized populations. However, the characterization and impact of ACEs and the resilience of men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV remains under-examined. This study aimed to examine how the clustering profiles of ACEs and social support networks may affect psychosocial outcomes to elucidate ACEs resilience in relation to social support network among MSM living with HIV. Data (2019-2023) were obtained from a prospective cohort of MSM living with HIV from Hawaii and Philadelphia, USA (N = 261). Latent profile analysis and propensity score-weighted generalized estimating equations were used to estimate group-level differences in psychosocial trajectories over the one-year study period. An ACEs-resilient profile with intensified, poly-types of ACEs and a robust social support network was significantly associated with higher perceived social support from family, resilient coping, lower depressive symptoms, and perceived stress, compared to those with similarly heightened ACEs exposure and a less optimal social support network. Bolstering social support networks could potentially improve the holistic range of ACEs-psychosocial outcome resilience among MSM living with HIV with heightened histories of ACEs. Future studies should examine the more nuanced socio-ecological and intrapersonal pathways of ACEs resilience.