Multilevel Influences on HIV and Substance Use in a YMSM Cohort (RADAR), Chicago Metropolitan Area, 2015-2020 (ICPSR 37603)
Version Date: Jan 22, 2025 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Brian Mustanski, Northwestern University Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37603.v4
Version V4 (see more versions)
Summary View help for Summary
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded RADAR in 2014 to collect multilevel, longitudinal data and biospecimens from an ethnically and racially diverse cohort of young, sexual and gender minorities (SGM; e.g., men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender women, gender non-conforming individuals) who were assigned male at birth (AMAB) (current core cohort n=1,113). The primary objective of this study is to apply a multilevel perspective to a syndemic of health issues associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in this population. The multilevel design focuses on individual, dyadic (i.e., sexual and romantic relationships), network (i.e., social, drug, and sexual connections) and biologic factors that may be associated with HIV. The cohort contains both HIV-negative and HIV-positive individuals, which allows for the development of a repository of biospecimens and HIV sequence data from both pre-infection and post-infection visits that will help facilitate future projects evaluating substance use, HIV risk, and pathogenesis.
A multiple cohort, accelerated longitudinal design was utilized by initially enrolling two existing SGM cohorts and then expanded through the use of convenience and snowball sampling methods. Enrollment criteria varied slightly based on the recruitment method, but overall inclusion criteria required participants to be AMAB, between 16 and 29 years of age, report having had sex with a man in the prior year or identify as a SGM, live in the Chicago metropolitan area, and be an English speaker. Study recruitment opened in February 2015. Participants are followed through the developmental period of late adolescence to early adulthood, which is a critical period of initiation and acceleration of sexual behavior and substance use. Study visits occur every six months.
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Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
Metropolitan area
Restrictions View help for Restrictions
Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.
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Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
- For additional information on this study, please visit the Multilevel Influences on HIV and Substance Use in a YMSM Cohort Study webpage.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The primary objective of this study is to apply a multilevel perspective to a syndemic of health issues associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in this population.
Study Design View help for Study Design
A multiple cohort, accelerated longitudinal design was utilized by initially enrolling two existing SGM cohorts and then expanded through the use of convenience and snowball sampling methods. Enrollment criteria varied slightly based on the recruitment method, but overall inclusion criteria required participants to be AMAB, between 16 and 29 years of age, report having had sex with a man in the prior year or identify as a SGM, live in the Chicago metropolitan area, and be an English speaker. Study recruitment opened in February 2015. Participants are followed through the developmental period of late adolescence to early adulthood, which is a critical period of initiation and acceleration of sexual behavior and substance use. Study visits occur every six months.
Sample View help for Sample
A multiple cohort, accelerated longitudinal design was utilized by initially enrolling two existing cohorts of sexual and gender minorities and then expanded with an additional recruitment group through the use of convenience and snowball sampling methods. Inclusion criteria required participants to be AMAB, between 16 and 29 years of age, report having had sex with a man in the prior year or identify as a SGM, live in the Chicago metropolitan area, and be an English speaker.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Young sexual and gender minorities who were assigned male at birth and recruited from the Chicago metropolitan area between 2015-2020.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2020-03-19
Version History View help for Version History
2025-01-22 Added data and online analysis for Visits 5-10.
2023-11-16 Updated to correct study documentation
2023-11-15 Replace Visit 1 data and add data for Visits 2-4
2020-03-19 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Performed recodes and/or calculated derived variables.
Notes
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.

This study is maintained and distributed by the National Addiction & HIV Data Archive Program (NAHDAP). NAHDAP is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).