Substance use and high-risk sex among men who have sex with men: a national online study in the USA

Hirshfield, Sabina; Remien, Robert H.; Humberstone, Mike; Walavalkar, I.; Chiasson, Mary Ann

doi:10.1080/09540120412331292525

Cited by 232 publications

(181 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…These findings also support results of previous studies (Balán, et al, 2009;Berg & Grimes, 2010;Elford, Bolding, & Sherr, 2001;Mettey, Crosby, DiClemente, & Holtgrave, 2003;Poon, et al, 2013), that inform the use of internet to meet online sex partners for offline sex and transactional sex as the common practices that contributed to unprotected sexual behaviours among MSM populations. On the contrary, other practices including the use of drugs and excessive alcohol consumption, which have been widely reported as associated with UAI among MSM (Clutterbuck, Gorman, McMillan, Lewis, & Macintyre, 2001;Drumright et al, 2006;Hirshfield, Remien, Humberstone, Walavalkar, &Chiasson, 2004;Parsons &Halkitis, 2002), were not found to be the case in the current study.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 48%

Exploring Determinants of Unprotected Sexual Behaviours Favouring HIV Transmission among Men who Have Sex with Men in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Fauk¹,

Crutzen

Merry³

et al. 2017

GJHS

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A qualitative inquiry using individual interviews explored determinants of unprotected sexual behaviours favouring HIV transmission among Men who Have sex with Men (MSM) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The study was conducted in July 2015 with 24 MSM participants recruited using convenience sampling technique. Data were analysed using a qualitative data analysis framework, with the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) employed as the study conceptual framework. Findings were grouped into a reciprocal triadic relationship involving behavioural, personal (cognitive) and environmental determinants. Behavioural determinants comprised having multiple casual sex partners, engagement in group sex and transactional sex practices. Environmental factors associated with unprotected sexual behaviours included influence of unsafe sex from regular partners and lack of access to HIV-related services. Personal (cognitive) determinants favouring unprotected sexual behaviours identified were lack of knowledge of condom and HIV/AIDS, individuals' expectation of pleasurable sexual intercourse, and low self-efficacy to discuss condom use and HIV status with casual sex partners. As effort to address HIV in MSM in Indonesia is still at its infancy, the findings of the current study are insightful and will inform the development of evidence-based programs in addressing HIV/AIDS problem in MSM populations in Yogyakarta and other similar settings.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 48%

Exploring Determinants of Unprotected Sexual Behaviours Favouring HIV Transmission among Men who Have Sex with Men in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Fauk¹,

Crutzen

Merry³

et al. 2017

GJHS

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“…As others have noted, the use of substances has serious implications for the use of safer sex techniques (Hirshfield et al, 2004). The use of substances alone can impair judgment and seriously affect the ability to make sexual health decisions among homeless youth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of HIV Risks among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Heterosexual Homeless Youth

Gangamma

Slesnick

Toviessi

et al. 2007

J Youth Adolescence

121

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Youth who are homeless and gay, lesbian or bisexual (GLB) are one of the most disenfranchised and marginalized groups in our society. The purpose of this study is to examine and compare HIV in GLB homeless youth with their heterosexual counterparts. Participants for this study included 268 youth involved in treatment outcome studies with substance abusing homeless youth. Results suggest that GLB youth have greater HIV risks and that these risks are greater among bisexual females. In examining the predictors of sexual health risks, survival sex emerged as the most significant. Survival sex was high among females regardless of their sexual orientation and also among gay males. Implications of these findings suggest that a greater emphasis needs to be paid to preventive interventions among this population. KeywordsYouth; Gay; HIV; Homeless One particularly disturbing consequence of being homeless is engaging in behaviors that put oneself at risk for HIV infection. Overall, the homeless population has a disproportionately higher risk of HIV transmission (Ebner and Laviage, 2003) and substance use (Kipke et al., 1997). Substance abuse has been associated as a risk factor for HIV, both in terms of drug and sexual related risk (Rotheram-Borus et al., 2003). In a recent study designed to explore the differences in sexual health risks and protective factors Rew et al. (2005) found that gay and lesbian homeless youth reported being tested and treated for HIV more than the bisexual or heterosexual youth. This was partially supported by a later study (Solorio et al., 2006) that found that gay and bisexual males were more likely to report being tested for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) when compared to heterosexual males and lesbian and bisexual females. While this could imply that gay and lesbian homeless youth are at a greater risk for STIs, there is currently little empirical evidence to show whether differences in HIV risks among heterosexual and gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) youth exist. Such evidence would be helpful in better understanding the needs of these youth and also to better inform intervention strategies. Thus, the purpose of this study was to bridge this gap by comparing the HIV risks among heterosexual and GLB youth in a population of homeless youth.Historically, studies comparing GLB and heterosexual non-homeless youth have been primarily conducted with school-based and community-based samples (Bontempo and D'Augelli, 2002;Faulkner and Cranston, 1998;Lock and Steiner, 1999). Findings suggest that GLB youth have greater rates of depression, more suicide attempts (Fergusson et al., 1999), more risk taking behavior (Garofalo et al., 1998) (Cochran et al., 2002;Noell and Ochs, 2001;Whitbeck et al., 2004). Gender differences have also been noted by some researchers. For instance, Whitbeck and colleagues (2004) in a longitudinal study of homeless and runaway adolescents found that gay males were more likely to have symptoms of internalization when compared to heterosexual males. Lesbian adole...

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“…Although some studies have found increased illicit drug use among Internet-using men, specifically poppers (nitrite inhalants), MDMA (ecstasy), crystal methamphetamine, and Viagra\, 3,27,28 others have found no differences in the use of these drugs. 8 With regard to demographic characteristics, it has been reported that men using the Internet for sex are more likely to be white 3,4,20,[28][29][30] and have less education; 19 however, other studies have found no differences in race/ethnicity 8,17 or level of education. 3,17 Demographic characteristics have been shown to be dependent on the website men are recruited from; for example, men recruited from America Online tended to be older than those recruited from Gay.com.…”

Section: Demographic and Behavioral Characteristics Of Msm Onlinementioning

confidence: 93%

“…8 An online study in the US found that only 12% of HIV-positive men with more than one sex partner in the 6 months before the survey reported serosorting. 30 HIV-negative men with online partners are more likely to report having HIV-positive partners, 17 more likely to report unsafe anal sex with nonconcordant partners, 18 more likely to report receiving money or drugs for sex, 17 and report feeling less worry about HIV due to improved HIV treatments. 18 These findings are concerning because of the increased potential for HIV infection among HIV-negative men who use the Internet to find sex partners.…”

Section: Hiv and Sti Transmissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

HIV Behavioral Research Online

Chiasson¹,

Parsons²,

Tesoriero³

et al. 2006

J Urban Health

125

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Internet access has caused a global revolution in the way people of all ages and genders interact. Many have turned to the Internet to seek love, companionship, and sex, prompting researchers to move behavioral studies online. The sexual behavior of men who have sex with men (MSM) has been more closely studied than that of any other group online given the abundance of gay-oriented websites and concerns about increasing transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Not only does the Internet provide a new medium for the conduct of behavioral research and for participant recruitment into an array of research studies, it has the as yet unrealized potential to reach huge numbers of MSM with innovative harm reduction and prevention messages tailored to individualized needs, interests, and risk behavior. Internet-based research on sexual behavior has many advantages in rapidity of recruitment of diverse samples which include individuals unreachable through conventional methods (i.e., non-gay identified and geographically and socially isolated MSM, etc.). Internet-based research also presents some new methodologic challenges in study design, participant recruitment, survey implementation, and interpretation of results. In addition, there are ethical issues unique to online research including difficulties in verifying informed consent, obstacles to surveying minors, and the ability to assure anonymity. This paper presents a review of Internet-based research on sexual behavior in MSM, a general discussion of the methodologic and ethical challenges of Internet-based research, and recommendations for future interdisciplinary research.

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Substance use and high-risk sex among men who have sex with men: a national online study in the USA

Cited by 232 publications

References 39 publications

Exploring Determinants of Unprotected Sexual Behaviours Favouring HIV Transmission among Men who Have Sex with Men in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Exploring Determinants of Unprotected Sexual Behaviours Favouring HIV Transmission among Men who Have Sex with Men in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Comparison of HIV Risks among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Heterosexual Homeless Youth

HIV Behavioral Research Online

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