Investigating Partner Abuse Among HIV-Positive Men Who have Sex with Men

Abstract

High rates of partner abuse (PA) of all types—physical, sexual, and psychological—have been identified in studies of HIV-positive individuals. We examined both the prevalence and correlates of same-sex PA in HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM). Participants recruited from public outpatient HIV clinics (N = 168) completed CASI surveys about PA and current physical and mental health. Electronic medical record data were obtained for HIV biomarkers. Results indicate high rates of past year PA (physical, 19%; sexual, 17%; psychological, 51%; any, 54%), with rates comparable to, or higher than, those reported in recent studies of HIV-positive women and older studies of HIV-positive MSM. Overall, participants endorsing past year PA reported poorer mental but not physical health. Participants who endorsed past year physical PA, specifically, reported the largest number of mental health problems. HIV care providers should routinely assess PA, especially physical PA, in all MSM patients.

Violence in Intimate Relationship between Same-Sex Partners: Prevalence Study

“…These data corroborate what has been observed in other national and international studies (Antunes & Machado, 2005;Costa et al, 2011;Finneran & Stephenson, 2013;Matte & Lafontaine, 2011;Pantalone et al, 2012;Turell, 2000;Yu et al, 2013). However, other studies (Blosnich & Bossarte, 2009;Edwards & Sylaska, 2013;Halpern et al, 2004;Ramachandran, Yonas, Silvestre, & Burke, 2010) show that physical violence is the most frequent.…”

“…In the present study, the prevalence rates of the different types of abusive behaviour are signifi cantly higher than those of other studies, which found rates ranging between 7.6% and 57.7% (Finneran & Stephenson, 2013;Frankland & Brown, 2014;Milletich, Gumienny, Kelley, & D'Lima, 2014;Pantalone, Schneider Valentine & Simoni, 2012;Yu et al, 2013). Nevertheless, the results of our study are similar to the study conducted by Turell and Cornell-Swanson (2005), which also found a high prevalence rate of 89%.…”

“…In relation to victimization, 28.6% of the participants reported the occurrence of minor physical abuse without sequelae, 11.9% reported severe physical abuse without sequelae, 10.7% reported minor physical abuse with sequelae and 1.2% reported severe physical abuse with sequelae. Although the studies developed in this area generally do not seek to distinguish between physical abuse with sequelae and physical abuse without sequelae, it is possible to see similarities in their prevalence rates, which range between 7.9% and 31% (Antunes & Machado 2005;Costa et al, 2009;Edwards & Sylaska, 2013;Finneran & Stephenson, 2013;Halper et al, 2004;Houston & McKirnan, 2007;Matte & Lafontaine, 2011;Pantalone et al, 2012;Ramachandran et al, 2010;Turell, 2000;Yu et al, 2013), as well as differences, as the rates found in this study are lower than the results of other studies that report rates between 45.1% and 89.9% (Blosnich & Bossarte, 2009;Craft & Serovich, 2005;Greenwood et al, 2002). Again, the social stigma of domestic violence may contribute to explaining the lower volume of reports of this type of abuse by participants (Paiva & Figueiredo, 2005).…”

Violência nas relações íntimas entre parceiros do mesmo sexo: estudo de prevalência

“…No que diz respeito à prevalência da violên-cia, de uma forma global, verifi cou-se que esta apresenta índices muito elevados, tanto em termos de perpetração como de vitimação. No presente estudo, as taxas de prevalência dos diferentes tipos de comportamentos abusivos apurados apresentam uma elevação signifi cativa, quando comparadas com outros estudos, que apontam para taxas compreendidas entre os 7,6% e 57,7% (Finneran & Stephenson, 2012;Frankland & Brown, 2014;Milletich, Gumienny, Kelley, & D'Lima, 2014;Pantalone, Schneider, Valentine, & Simoni, 2012;Yu et al, 2013). Não obstante, os resultados do nosso estudo vão de encontro ao apurado por Turell e Cornell-Swanson (2005), o qual encontrou também uma taxa de prevalência elevada, de 89%.…”

A review of the syndemic components of male same-sex intimate partner violence

“…[9,10] This stigma, along with bullying of non-gender conforming adolescents and negative media messaging results in high rates of mental health problems among gay men. [11] Over the past twenty years, researchers have identified varying rates of MSSIPV, including psychological abuse rates between 33% to 73.2%, [12] sexual violence rates in current relationships from 9.8% to 28.1%, [13] and physical abuse rates from 11.8% to 45.1%. [14] A methodological weakness of many of the studies of MSSIPV is the widespread use of convenience samples and the lack of studies using random sampling.…”