Go out and meet queer people! Interpersonal LGBT contact and attitudes as determinants of HIV-related stigma among Spanish young adults.

Résumé

Despite biomedical advances that have transformed HIV into a manageable chronic condition, stigma remains a persistent social issue, particularly in everyday interactions. This study examines the factors associated with behavioural expressions of HIV-related stigma among Spanish young adults, a generation that has grown up in a post-crisis, biomedically transformed HIV landscape. Drawing on a quota-based sample of 400 individuals aged 18-24 in Spain, we assess the roles of attitudinal stigma, interpersonal contact with LGBT individuals, educational attainment, political ideology, and HIV-related knowledge. Behavioural stigma was measured through a scenario-based item capturing intended actions toward a person living with HIV. Multivariate regression showed that attitudinal stigma was the strongest predictor of behavioural responses. Interpersonal contact with LGBT individuals was associated with lower stigma, both directly and indirectly through its effect on attitudes, supporting a mediation model consistent with intergroup contact theory. Higher educational attainment was also associated with reduced stigma, though not through attitudinal change, whereas political ideology and HIV-related knowledge were not significant predictors. These findings suggest that stigma among young adults is driven less by lack of information than by broader social and psychological processes, and that interventions should prioritise attitudinal change and interpersonal contact over purely informational strategies.