Abstract
Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are the only group in which rates of new HIV infections are increasing in the United States. Alcohol and drug use have been linked to HIV risk, but evidence suggests that these associations may change across development and by relationship type. Data were taken from an analytic sample of 114 YMSM enrolled in a longitudinal study of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth with 4 years of participant follow-up. For the sample as a whole, alcohol use before sex was not associated with sexual risk, but drug use before sex was positively associated with sexual risk. A positive association between alcohol use and sexual risk emerged across development, and this association was stronger in serious relationships relative to casual sex partners. The positive association between drug use before sex and sexual risk decreased across development and was stronger in serious relationships. We discuss the need for addressing substance use before sex in dyadic interventions with YMSM.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1981-1990 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | AIDS and behavior |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 20 2014 |
Funding
Acknowledgments This research was supported by a Grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R21MH095413; PI: Mus-tanski), an American Foundation for Suicide Prevention grant (PI: Mustanski), the William T. Grant Foundation Scholars Award (PI: Mustanski), and the David Bohnett Foundation (PI: Mustanski). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.
Keywords
- Alcohol
- Developmental change
- Drugs
- HIV/AIDS
- Young men who have sex with men
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Infectious Diseases
