A recent article published in AIDS and Behavior (2022), led by Assistant Professor Dr. Yen-Tyng Chen, examined associations between COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and HIV status neutral care engagement among Black cisgender sexual minority men (BCSMM) and Black transgender women (BTW) during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020.
Three-quarters of the sample believed at least one conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was either government-created or lab-created accidentally or purposefully. Believing one or more COVID-19 conspiracy theories was significantly associated with better PrEP or ART engagement. Believing COVID-19 came about naturally was strongly associated with worse PrEP or ART engagement.