From American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse: Relationship between civic/political involvement and health

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21819309

Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2011 Aug 8. [Epub ahead of print]
Associations between Political/Civic Participation and HIV Drug Injection Risk.
Mino M, Deren S, Kang SY, Guarino H.
Source
National Development and Research Institutes, Inc ., New York, NY.

Abstract
Background: Participating in civic activities has been found to be related to positive health outcomes.

Objective: This study examines associations between injection drug use health variables (sharing paraphernalia, using shooting galleries) and political/civic engagement (identifying with any political party, attention paid to politics and being registered to vote).

Methods: Participants (N = 162) were recruited at 6 New York City (NYC) methadone programs as part of an HIV intervention (86% male). Results: In the bivariate analysis, being registered to vote and political party identification were related to lower paraphernalia sharing; higher levels of attention paid to politics were associated with lower shooting gallery use. In the multivariate analysis, political party identification was associated with lower paraphernalia sharing and higher levels of attention paid to politics was related to lower shooting gallery use.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that maintaining connections with mainstream civic activities can be related to reduced health risks, including HIV risk behaviors. Scientific Significance: This study contributes to understanding the relationships between involvement in civic/political participation and health, an area in which few studies have been conducted.