Prejudice, Stigma and Social Discrimination: Perceived Barriers in HIV Prevention and Control among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China

Mahapatra, Weiming Tang Tanmay

doi:10.4172/2165-7920.1000448

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Second, owing to prejudice, stigma, and social pressures for MSM, they may be more likely to use gay apps (eg, Blued) to express their mood in the evening. Moreover, MSM may tend to avoid discussing their health, needs, and mood in real life [71]. However, Blued provides an anonymous environment for MSM to exchange opinions and share information, which possibly explains why these men tended to talk more openly about health-related topics, express affect, and seek help [19].…”

Section: Principal Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations Between Affective States and Sexual and Health Status Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China: Exploratory Study Using Social Media Data

et al. 2020

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Background Affective states, including sentiment and emotion, are critical determinants of health. However, few studies among men who have sex with men (MSM) have examined sentiment and emotion specifically using real-time social media technologies. Moreover, the explorations on their associations with sexual and health status among MSM are limited. Objective This study aimed to understand and examine the associations of affective states with sexual behaviors and health status among MSM using public data from the Blued (Blued International Inc) app. Methods A total of 843,745 public postings of 377,610 MSM users located in Guangdong were saved from the Blued app by automatic screen capture. Positive affect, negative affect, sexual behaviors, and health status were measured using the Simplified Chinese Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. Emotions, including joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust, were measured using the Weibo Basic Mood Lexicon. A positive sentiment score and a positive emotion score were also calculated. Univariate and multivariate linear regression models on the basis of a permutation test were used to assess the associations of affective states with sexual behaviors and health status. Results A total of 5871 active MSM users and their 477,374 postings were finally selected. Both positive affect and positive emotions (eg, joy) peaked between 7 AM and 9 AM. Negative affect and negative emotions (eg, sadness and disgust) peaked between 2 AM and 4 AM. During that time, 25.1% (97/387) of negative postings were related to health and 13.4% (52/387) of negative postings were related to seeking social support. A multivariate analysis showed that the MSM who were more likely to post sexual behaviors were more likely to express positive affect (beta=0.3107; P<.001) and positive emotions (joy: beta=0.027; P<.001), as well as negative emotions (sadness: beta=0.0443; P<.001 and disgust: beta=0.0256; P<.001). They also had a higher positive sentiment score (beta=0.2947; P<.001) and a higher positive emotion score (beta=0.1612; P<.001). The MSM who were more likely to post their health status were more likely to express negative affect (beta=0.8088; P<.001) and negative emotions, including sadness (beta=0.0705; P<.001), anger (beta=0.0058; P<.001), fear (beta=0.0052; P<.001), and disgust (beta=0.3065; P<.001), and less likely to express positive affect (beta=−0.0224; P=.02). In addition, they had a lower positive sentiment score (beta=−0.8306; P<.001) and a lower positive emotion score (beta=−0.3743; P<.001). Conclusions The MSM social media community mainly expressed their positive affect in the early morning and negative affect after midnight. Positive affective states were associated with being sexually active, whereas negative affective states were associated with health problems, mostly about mental health. Our finding suggests the potential to deliver different health-related intervention strategies (eg, psychological counseling and safe sex promotion) on a social media app according to the affective states of MSM in real time.

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Section: Principal Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations Between Affective States and Sexual and Health Status Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China: Exploratory Study Using Social Media Data

et al. 2020

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“…Moreover, the fear-based and shame-based approaches to sexual health education implemented by universities and public health authorities further repel the students and undermine their hopes of receiving inclusive and LGBTQ-friendly support. The fear-based and shame-based approaches may also intensify the stigmatization and discrimination of sexual and gender minorities [ 20 ], which has nevertheless been proven to be one of the major risk factors for HIV transmission and other sexually transmitted infections among GBMSM in China [ 21 , 22 ].…”

Section: Discussion and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“They have their own people”: Emotional connections, community belonging, and Chinese gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) college students’ needs for sexual health support

Yang,

Li,

Zou

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) college students in China have unique sexual health challenges, including a higher risk of HIV infection, stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) population, and limited access to LGBTQ-affirmative sexual health support. Nonetheless, previous research or policymaking has rarely addressed the students’ needs for sexual health support from their perspectives. This study aims to explore GBMSM college students’ perceptions and attitudes to current sexual health resources, the challenges they encounter, and their expectations to acquiring LGBTQ-affirmative sexual health information and services. The exploration was carried out through field visits and in-depth interviews with 26 GBMSM college students and eight relevant stakeholders in five cities in China. Qualitative thematic analysis was applied to the interview transcripts and fieldwork memos. Four themes emerged around the preference and needs of GBMSM students in dealing with their sexual health challenges: the association between tackling sexual health challenges and entering LGBTQ communities, the roles of emotional attachment in shaping the preference for HIV-related care and support, the desired modes of acquiring sexual health support, and the current unmet service needs. We discovered that the information-and-care-seeking behaviors of GBMSM college students are highly influenced by and connected to their participation in online and in-person LGBTQ communities. Due to the overall stigmatizing sociocultural environment of LGBTQ in China, GBMSM college students tend to rely on LGBTQ communities, seeking trust and a sense of belongingness for tackling their sexual health challenges. Conventional school-based sexual health educational programs, which often apply top-down, stigma-and-fear-based, and non-LGBTQ-inclusive teaching strategies, rarely help GBMSM college students to solve sexual health problems in real life. GBMSM college students are eager to have LGBTQ-affirmative "health managers" who can understand their emotional experiences and interpersonal contexts and assist them with sexual health issues. However, such support is generally perceived as limited by the students. Our study highlights these unmet needs of the GBMSM students and emphasizes the importance of developing future LGBTQ-affirmative sexual health programs among Chinese GBMSM college students and young GBMSM in general.

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Associations Between Affective States and Sexual and Health Status Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China: Exploratory Study Using Social Media Data (Preprint)

Zheng¹,

Yang²,

Liu³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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BACKGROUND Affective states, including sentiment and emotion, are critical determinants of health. However, few studies among men who have sex with men (MSM) have examined sentiment and emotion specifically using real-time social media technologies. Moreover, the explorations on their associations with sexual and health status among MSM are limited. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to understand and examine the associations of affective states with sexual behaviors and health status among MSM using public data from the Blued (Blued International Inc) app. METHODS A total of 843,745 public postings of 377,610 MSM users located in Guangdong were saved from the Blued app by automatic screen capture. Positive affect, negative affect, sexual behaviors, and health status were measured using the Simplified Chinese Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. Emotions, including joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust, were measured using the Weibo Basic Mood Lexicon. A positive sentiment score and a positive emotion score were also calculated. Univariate and multivariate linear regression models on the basis of a permutation test were used to assess the associations of affective states with sexual behaviors and health status. RESULTS A total of 5871 active MSM users and their 477,374 postings were finally selected. Both positive affect and positive emotions (eg, joy) peaked between 7 AM and 9 AM. Negative affect and negative emotions (eg, sadness and disgust) peaked between 2 AM and 4 AM. During that time, 25.1% (97/387) of negative postings were related to health and 13.4% (52/387) of negative postings were related to seeking social support. A multivariate analysis showed that the MSM who were more likely to post sexual behaviors were more likely to express positive affect (beta=0.3107; P<.001) and positive emotions (joy: beta=0.027; P<.001), as well as negative emotions (sadness: beta=0.0443; P<.001 and disgust: beta=0.0256; P<.001). They also had a higher positive sentiment score (beta=0.2947; P<.001) and a higher positive emotion score (beta=0.1612; P<.001). The MSM who were more likely to post their health status were more likely to express negative affect (beta=0.8088; P<.001) and negative emotions, including sadness (beta=0.0705; P<.001), anger (beta=0.0058; P<.001), fear (beta=0.0052; P<.001), and disgust (beta=0.3065; P<.001), and less likely to express positive affect (beta=−0.0224; P=.02). In addition, they had a lower positive sentiment score (beta=−0.8306; P<.001) and a lower positive emotion score (beta=−0.3743; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS The MSM social media community mainly expressed their positive affect in the early morning and negative affect after midnight. Positive affective states were associated with being sexually active, whereas negative affective states were associated with health problems, mostly about mental health. Our finding suggests the potential to deliver different health-related intervention strategies (eg, psychological counseling and safe sex promotion) on a social media app according to the affective states of MSM in real time.

show abstract

Prejudice, Stigma and Social Discrimination: Perceived Barriers in HIV Prevention and Control among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China

Cited by 3 publications

References 20 publications

Associations Between Affective States and Sexual and Health Status Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China: Exploratory Study Using Social Media Data

Associations Between Affective States and Sexual and Health Status Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China: Exploratory Study Using Social Media Data

“They have their own people”: Emotional connections, community belonging, and Chinese gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) college students’ needs for sexual health support

Associations Between Affective States and Sexual and Health Status Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China: Exploratory Study Using Social Media Data (Preprint)

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