Social capital, or social cohesion or group connectedness, can influence both HIV risk behavior and substance use. Because recent immigrants undergo a change in environment, one of the consequences can be a change in social capital. There may be an association among changes in social capital, and HIV risk behavior and substance use post immigration. The dissertation focused on the interface of these three variables among recent Latino immigrants (RLIs) in South Florida. The first manuscript is a systematic review of social capital and HIV risk behavior, and served as a partial background for the second and third manuscripts. Twelve papers with a measure of social capital as an independent variable and HIV risk as the dependent variable were included in the analysis. Eleven studies measured social capital at the individual level, and one study measured social capital at the group level. HIV risk was influenced by social capital, but the type of influence was dependent on the type of social capital and on the study population. Cognitive social capital, or levels of collective action, was protective against HIV in both men and women. The role of structural social capital, or levels of civic engagement/group participation, on HIV risk was dependent on the type of structural social capital and varied by gender. Microfinance programs and functional group participation were protective for women, while dysfunctional group participation and peer-level support may have increased HIV risk among men. The second manuscript was an original study assessing changes in social capital and HIV risk behavior pre to post immigration among RLIs in South Florida (n=527). HIV risk behavior was assessed through the frequency of vaginal-penile condom use, and the number of sexual partners. It was a longitudinal study using secondary data analysis to assess changes in social capital and HIV risk behavior pre immigration to two years post immigration, and to determine if there was a relationship between the two variables. There was an 8% decrease in total social capital (p ˂ .05). Reporting of ‘Never use’ of condoms in the past 90 days increased in all subcategories (p ˂ .05). Single men had a decrease in number of sexual partners (p ˂ .05). Lower social capital measured on the dimension of ‘friend and other’ was marginally associated with fewer sexual partners. The third manuscript was another original study looking at the association between social capital and substance use among RLIs in South Florida (n=527). Substance use with measured by frequency of hazardous alcoholic drinking, and illicit drug use. It was a longitudinal study of social capital and substance-use from pre to two years post immigration. Post-immigration, social capital, hazardous drinking and illicit drug use decreased (p˂.001). After adjusting for time, compared to males, females were less likely to engage in hazardous drinking (OR=.31, p˂.001), and less likely to engage in illicit drug use (OR=.67, p=.01). Documentation status was a moderator between social capital and illicit drug use. ‘Business’ and ‘Agency’ social capital were associated with changes in illicit drug use for documented immigrants. After adjusting for gender and marital status, on average, documented immigrants with a one-unit increase in ‘business’ social capital were 1.2 times more likely to engage in illicit drug use (p˂.01), and documented immigrants with one-unit increase in ‘agency’ social capital were 38% less likely to engage in illicit drug use (p˂.01). ‘Friend and other’ social capital was associated with a decrease in illicit drug use among undocumented immigrants. After adjusting for gender and marital status, on average, undocumented immigrants with a one-unit increase in ‘friend and other’ social capital were 45% less likely to engage in hazardous drinking and 44% less likely to use illicit drugs (p˂.01, p˂.05). Studying these three domains is relevant because HIV continues to be a public health issue, particularly in Miami-Dade County, which is ranked among other U.S. regions with high rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence. Substance use is associated with HIV risk behavior; in most studies, increased substance use is associated with increased chances of HIV risk behavior. Immigration, which is the hypothesized catalyst for the change in social capital, has an impact on the dynamic of a society. Greater immigration can be burdensome on the host country’s societal resources; however immigrants are also potentially a source of additional skilled labor for the workforce. Therefore, successful adaption of immigrants can have a positive influence on receiving communities. With Florida being a major receiver of immigrants to the U.S, this dissertation attempts to address an important public health issue for South Florida and the U.S. at large.

Le cancer du sein est l’affection maligne la plus fréquente chez la femme. Depuis la mise sur pied de programmes de dépistage du cancer du sein au Canada, le taux de mortalité par ce cancer a diminué dès le début des années 2000. Cependant, les immigrantes récentes (depuis moins 10 ans) sont toujours réticentes à la mammographie de dépistage, et ce, comparativement aux femmes nées au Canada et les immigrantes de longue durée (plus de 10 ans). L’objectif de cette thèse est de présenter un état des connaissances et des défis reliés au dépistage du cancer du sein chez les immigrantes. Je présenterai d’abord une revue narrative qui trace un portrait général sur les obstacles et les avantages au recours au dépistage du cancer du sein chez les femmes immigrantes. En me basant sur le cadre conceptuel de Lévesque et collaborateurs, j’ai organisé les données en cinq grandes catégories : 1. « La perception des besoins au recours du dépistage du cancer du sein », 2. « la recherche (seeking) du dépistage du cancer du sein », 3. « l’accès (reaching) au dépistage du cancer du sein », 4. « le recours (utilisation) au dépistage du cancer du sein » et 5. « les suivis réguliers (consequences) du dépistages du cancer du sein ». Je procéderai ensuite à une étude analytique transversale des microdonnées de l’Enquête sur la santé dans les collectivités canadiennes (ESCC, 2013-2014). Cette approche méthodologique permet de mettre à jour les données des recours ou non à la mammographie des femmes de 50 à 69 ans. Plusieurs facteurs sont significativement liés à la non-utilisation de cet examen tel que : l’âge, l’état matrimonial (divorcée, veuve, ou célibataire), le faible revenu, le niveau d’éducation moins élevé, le statut d’immigration, le non-accès à un médecin de famille, l’indice de masse corporelle (obésité de classe 3), le tabagisme, etc. Finalement, une troisième étude qualitative a été menée pour décrire les raisons de non-utilisation de la mammographie de dépistage des femmes immigrantes récentes, d’origine maghrébine à Montréal. Comme dans la revue narrative, en se basant encore sur le cadre conceptuel de Lévesque et collaborateurs, les participantes ont révélé des barrières et des facilitateurs communs à l’accès au dépistage : 1. « La perception des besoins au recours du dépistage du cancer du sein », 2. « la recherche (seeking) du dépistage du cancer du sein », 3. « l’accès (reaching) au dépistage du cancer du sein », 4. « le recours (utilisation) au dépistage du cancer du sein » et 5. « les suivis réguliers (consequences) de dépistages du cancer du sein ». Les résultats de cette thèse ont montré plusieurs barrières (socioéconomiques, socioculturelles et autres) à l’accès au dépistage du cancer du sein et/ou à la mammographie chez les femmes immigrantes. Il serait important de mettre en œuvre des outils interventionnels adaptés selon les barrières communes et les divers besoins des femmes immigrantes afin de promouvoir une culture préventive et d’éclairer leur décision quant à l’utilisation ou non de la mammographie de dépistage. / Breast cancer is the most common malignant disease among women. Since the introduction of breast cancer screening programs in the early 2000s, the mortality rate of women with breast cancer in Canada decreased significantly. Despite this decrease, recent immigrant women (who arrived in the host country less than 10 years ago) in Canada have been found to use breast cancer screening programs less frequently. The purpose of this thesis is to shed some light on the state of knowledge related to breast cancer screening among immigrant women, with emphasis on the challenges they face when accessing or using breast screening programs. We first conducted a literature review to describe the current barriers and benefits of using breast cancer screening among immigrant women. Using Lévesque’s patient-centered access to healthcare framework, the data was organized into five major categories: (1) “perception of needs and desire for screening”, (2) “breast cancer screening seeking”, (3) “breast cancer screening reaching”, (4) “breast cancer screening utilisation”, and (5) “breast cancer screening consequences”. The second study was a cross-sectional analysis of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS, 2013/2014) to update the data regarding the use of mammography services among women aged 50 to 69 years. Several socioeconomic factors were significantly related to the low use of mammography services, including: age, marital status (divorced, widowed, or single), lower income, lower level of education, status of immigration (being an immigrant), lack of access to a family doctor, body mass index (obese class 3), and smoking status (being a smoker), etc. Finally, we present the findings of a qualitative study which was conducted to investigate the barriers and facilitators to mammography screening use among recent immigrant women from Northwest Africa (Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco) currently residing in Montreal. As in the narrative review, again based on the Lévesque et al. conceptual framework, the participants identified common barriers and facilitators to accessing screening: “perception of needs and 8 desire for screening”, “breast cancer screening seeking”, “breast cancer screening reaching”, “breast cancer screening utilisation”, and “breast cancer screening consequences”. The results of this thesis indicated that there were various barriers (e.g. sociocultural, socioeconomic, etc.) to accessing breast cancer screening and /or mammography among immigrant women. It is important to implement new interventional tools adapted to the common barriers and diverse needs of immigrant women in order to promote preventive culture and enable them to make informed choices regarding screening mammography.