Hi guys,
Just a short note from me today to wish you all a happy holiday season and a good new year. I plan to post some additional information and new postings in the near future, so keep an eye out here for more information.
Hugh
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
risk hypotheticals for HIV-negative and HIV-positive men
Hello,
Well, my paper at the American Public Health Association conference went well last week in Philadelphia. It focused on drug use/abuse findings from the Bareback Project, presenting many of the findings shown in my previous posts to you guys here. People who attended my poster seemed to be interested in the findings and in the work, and I even had one gentleman from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration come to it and show some interest in my methamphetamine-related findings. The presentation was a good experience with nice feedback.
For this week's update, I thought I would shift my focus a bit and share some new information with you guys. This time around, I'm reporting some of the findings that I've come up with for the risk-related hypotheticals. As you may recall, during the interview you completed with us, one of the sections we covered asked what you thought you would do if you met a very attractive man online (sometimes he was said to be poz and sometimes the scenarios posed him as neg) and he wanted to have different kinds of sex with you. Here are the results for men who are HIV-negative.
From left to right, the blocks represent (1) performing oral sex on a man who is HIV-positive, (2) performing oral sex on a man who is HIV-negative, (3) receiving anal sex from a man who is HIV-positive, (4) receiving anal sex from a man who is HIV-negative, (5) performing anal sex on a man who is HIV-positive, and (6) performing anal sex on a man who is HIV-negative. Remember that, in all of the scenarios, the assumption posed was that the sex involved was condomless.
And here are the comparable findings for men who are HIV-positive. From left to right, the blocks show you (1) receiving oral sex from a poz man, (2) receiving oral sex from a man who is neg, (3) receiving anal sex from a man who is poz, (4) receiving anal sex from a man who is neg, (5) performing anal sex on a man who is poz, and (6) performing anal sex on a man who is neg. Again, please keep in mind that all of these sex acts refer specifically to condomless sex.
What do you think of the findings? Anything here strike you as particularly interesting or surprising?
Hugh
Well, my paper at the American Public Health Association conference went well last week in Philadelphia. It focused on drug use/abuse findings from the Bareback Project, presenting many of the findings shown in my previous posts to you guys here. People who attended my poster seemed to be interested in the findings and in the work, and I even had one gentleman from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration come to it and show some interest in my methamphetamine-related findings. The presentation was a good experience with nice feedback.
For this week's update, I thought I would shift my focus a bit and share some new information with you guys. This time around, I'm reporting some of the findings that I've come up with for the risk-related hypotheticals. As you may recall, during the interview you completed with us, one of the sections we covered asked what you thought you would do if you met a very attractive man online (sometimes he was said to be poz and sometimes the scenarios posed him as neg) and he wanted to have different kinds of sex with you. Here are the results for men who are HIV-negative.
From left to right, the blocks represent (1) performing oral sex on a man who is HIV-positive, (2) performing oral sex on a man who is HIV-negative, (3) receiving anal sex from a man who is HIV-positive, (4) receiving anal sex from a man who is HIV-negative, (5) performing anal sex on a man who is HIV-positive, and (6) performing anal sex on a man who is HIV-negative. Remember that, in all of the scenarios, the assumption posed was that the sex involved was condomless.
And here are the comparable findings for men who are HIV-positive. From left to right, the blocks show you (1) receiving oral sex from a poz man, (2) receiving oral sex from a man who is neg, (3) receiving anal sex from a man who is poz, (4) receiving anal sex from a man who is neg, (5) performing anal sex on a man who is poz, and (6) performing anal sex on a man who is neg. Again, please keep in mind that all of these sex acts refer specifically to condomless sex.
What do you think of the findings? Anything here strike you as particularly interesting or surprising?
Hugh
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
some new findings about drug use
Greetings!
I have spent a bit more time working with the data from the Bareback Project, focusing additional attention on the issue of substance use/abuse. Here are some of the findings that I've come up with most recently, pertaining to when men begin using drugs. Let me know your thoughts when you've had a chance to read through the latest from the study. I always welcome hearing from you guys, and getting your reactions and responses to the work I'm doing relating to the project.
Hugh
Late Onset Experimentation with Drugs
For men currently in their 40s, 27.0% tried at least one illegal drug that they had never tried before sometime in their 40s.
For men currently in their 50s, 42.5% tried at least one illegal drug that they had never tried before sometime in their 40s or 50s. Nearly half of these men (19.2% of the total sample) tried this illegal drug during their 50s.
For men currently in their 60s or 70s, 58.7% tried at least one illegal drug that they had never tried before sometime in their 40s, 50s, or 60s. Most of these men (46.2% of the total sample) tried this illegal drug during their 50s or 60s, and nearly half of these men (19.2% of the total sample) tried this illegal drug during their 60s.
TAKE-AWAY POINT: Although most of the scientific literature shows that people mature out of their drug use by the time they reach age 40, among men participating in the Bareback Project, experimentation with illegal drugs after that age was fairly commonplace.
Initial Experimentation with Alcohol and/or Other Drugs
The median age for using any substance–legal or illegal–for the first time was 15. Nearly half of the men who reported having used alcohol and/or another drug by the age of 15 (20% of the total sample) had done so by the age of 12.
For men who reported the use of at least one illegal drug during their lifetimes, the median age of first use was 18. More than half of the men who had used an illegal drug by the age of 18 (26.0% of the total sample) had done so by the age of 15.
Not surprisingly, the younger men were when they first began using substances, the more likely they were to experience drug-related problems during their lifetimes (p<.0001). Also, the younger men were when they first began using substances, the more drug use they reported during the month prior to interview (p<.05). This was particularly true with regard to methamphetamine use (p<.004). Earlier onset of initial substance use was also associated with an increased likelihood of having been in a drug treatment program at least once in their lives (p<.0005).
All types of childhood maltreatment were associated closely with the age of first using alcohol and/or other drugs, with more maltreatment being associated with an earlier age of onset. This was true for physical abuse (p<.0008), sexual abuse (p<.02), emotional abuse (p<.01), physical neglect (p<.004), emotional neglect (p<.008), or total amount of maltreatment (p<.0004). Men who had been severely maltreated during their formative years began using alcohol and/or other drugs approximately 1.5 years earlier than men who had not been severely maltreated (p<.008).
TAKE-AWAY POINTS: Bareback Project men tended to begin using alcohol and/or other drugs on the early side, on average, about one year earlier than adults in the general population. Early-onset substance use tended to coincide with later-life problems with drug use/abuse, and appears to be related closely to men’s experiences with childhood maltreatment.
I have spent a bit more time working with the data from the Bareback Project, focusing additional attention on the issue of substance use/abuse. Here are some of the findings that I've come up with most recently, pertaining to when men begin using drugs. Let me know your thoughts when you've had a chance to read through the latest from the study. I always welcome hearing from you guys, and getting your reactions and responses to the work I'm doing relating to the project.
Hugh
Late Onset Experimentation with Drugs
For men currently in their 40s, 27.0% tried at least one illegal drug that they had never tried before sometime in their 40s.
For men currently in their 50s, 42.5% tried at least one illegal drug that they had never tried before sometime in their 40s or 50s. Nearly half of these men (19.2% of the total sample) tried this illegal drug during their 50s.
For men currently in their 60s or 70s, 58.7% tried at least one illegal drug that they had never tried before sometime in their 40s, 50s, or 60s. Most of these men (46.2% of the total sample) tried this illegal drug during their 50s or 60s, and nearly half of these men (19.2% of the total sample) tried this illegal drug during their 60s.
TAKE-AWAY POINT: Although most of the scientific literature shows that people mature out of their drug use by the time they reach age 40, among men participating in the Bareback Project, experimentation with illegal drugs after that age was fairly commonplace.
Initial Experimentation with Alcohol and/or Other Drugs
The median age for using any substance–legal or illegal–for the first time was 15. Nearly half of the men who reported having used alcohol and/or another drug by the age of 15 (20% of the total sample) had done so by the age of 12.
For men who reported the use of at least one illegal drug during their lifetimes, the median age of first use was 18. More than half of the men who had used an illegal drug by the age of 18 (26.0% of the total sample) had done so by the age of 15.
Not surprisingly, the younger men were when they first began using substances, the more likely they were to experience drug-related problems during their lifetimes (p<.0001). Also, the younger men were when they first began using substances, the more drug use they reported during the month prior to interview (p<.05). This was particularly true with regard to methamphetamine use (p<.004). Earlier onset of initial substance use was also associated with an increased likelihood of having been in a drug treatment program at least once in their lives (p<.0005).
All types of childhood maltreatment were associated closely with the age of first using alcohol and/or other drugs, with more maltreatment being associated with an earlier age of onset. This was true for physical abuse (p<.0008), sexual abuse (p<.02), emotional abuse (p<.01), physical neglect (p<.004), emotional neglect (p<.008), or total amount of maltreatment (p<.0004). Men who had been severely maltreated during their formative years began using alcohol and/or other drugs approximately 1.5 years earlier than men who had not been severely maltreated (p<.008).
TAKE-AWAY POINTS: Bareback Project men tended to begin using alcohol and/or other drugs on the early side, on average, about one year earlier than adults in the general population. Early-onset substance use tended to coincide with later-life problems with drug use/abuse, and appears to be related closely to men’s experiences with childhood maltreatment.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
question from one of you followers to the rest of you
Hi guys,
I am posting this note/question on behalf of STXBAREBACK, who is one of the followers of this blog. He asked me to pose a short note for him, with the hope that others of you would respond. His questions/comments are as follows:
What expectations do you have from anonymous sexual encounters? Are those expectations usually met after such encounters?
It's open-ended, but I will be interested to see where the answers lead.
As with STXBAREBACK, I too will be interested in reading your replies and hearing your thoughts.
Hugh
I am posting this note/question on behalf of STXBAREBACK, who is one of the followers of this blog. He asked me to pose a short note for him, with the hope that others of you would respond. His questions/comments are as follows:
What expectations do you have from anonymous sexual encounters? Are those expectations usually met after such encounters?
It's open-ended, but I will be interested to see where the answers lead.
As with STXBAREBACK, I too will be interested in reading your replies and hearing your thoughts.
Hugh
Friday, October 9, 2009
substance use and abuse
Hello gentlemen (and not-so-gentle men),
In a few weeks, I will be attending the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association. While there, I will be presenting the first paper generated by the work that I did on the Bareback Project, focusing on substance use and abuse. Although the poster that I will be presenting hasn't been finalized yet, I thought that I would take this opportunity to share with you some of the main findings.
Let me know your thoughts and reactions, when you've had a chance to read the following project update.
Hugh
Part 1 – Drug Use Prevalence Information
During their lifetimes, a large majority of the men taking part in the Bareback Project (85.2%) reported having used an illegal drug at least once. This is considerably greater than the comparable figure for adult men in the U.S. general population (51.3%), making participants in this study more than 5x as likely as their general population counterparts to report lifetime use of an illegal drug.
If marijuana is taken out of this equation, approximately two-thirds (68.3%) of the men participating in the Bareback Project reported lifetime use of another illegal drug. This compares with 33.6% of the men in the population-at-large.
On all major types of illegal drugs studied, the men participating in the Bareback Project were substantially more likely to report having tried the drug during their lifetimes when compared to the “typical” American male adult. Particularly noteworthy is the difference in methamphetamine use, which was nearly 12x more common among men in this study than in the general population.
Also noteworthy are the large differences in the proportion of Bareback Project men who reported recently using illegal drugs, when compared to men in the adult population. Study participants were more than 12x as likely as men in the general population to say that they used marijuana during the month prior to interview. Bareback Project men were nearly 14x as likely as the “typical” American male adult to report any illegal drug use during that time period. The differential decreased to 7x if marijuana use is taken out of the equation, but that still means that the Bareback Project men were considerably more likely to report recent drug use than their general population counterparts were.
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Part 2 – Differentiating Between Men Who Did and Men Who Did Not Use Illegal Drugs
From a prevention and intervention standpoint, it is important to identify the factors that differentiate who uses illegal drugs from those who do not. For the Bareback Project, multivariate analysis identified eight characteristics that contribute uniquely and significantly to this differentiation. They are:
1. Race -- Caucasian men were 37% less likely than men belonging to other racial groups to be users of illegal drugs (p<.02).
2. Relationship status -- Men who were involved in a marital-type relationship were a little more than twice as likely as those who were not comparably "involved” to be illegal drug users (p<.03).
3. Knowing someone who had died from AIDS -- Men who knew someone who had died from AIDS-related causes were about half as likely as those who knew no such person to be a user of illegal drugs (p<.04).
4. Body mass index -- The more heavy-set a guy was, the less likely he was to be an illegal drug user (p<.002). (I’m not quite sure what to make of this particular finding, and may re-run the analysis leaving this characteristic out of the equation just to make/keep it “cleaner” intellectually.)
5. Preferred length of sexual session -- The longer guys liked their sex sessions to last, the more likely they were to be users of illegal drugs (p<.05).
6. Liking sex in public venues -- The more that men reported liking to have sex in public places, such as parks, restrooms, or bookstores, the more likely they were to be an illegal drug user (p<.04).
7. Attitudes toward condom use -- The more opposed men were to the use of condoms, the more likely they were to be illegal drug users (p<.04). (This makes sense, as it is probably indicative of a pattern of involvement in risky behaviors.)
8. Physical abuse when growing up -- The more physical abuse men experienced during their formative years, the less likely they were to become illegal drug users in adulthood (p<.02). (Most of the published studies show this to be the other way around.)
Part 3 – Understanding Greater Versus Lesser Drug Use among Illegal Drug Users
Also worthwhile from a prevention and intervention standpoint is developing an understanding of the factors that are associated with greater/lesser drug use among people who do use illegal drugs. For the Bareback Project, multivariate analysis identified six characteristics that contribute uniquely and significantly to this differentiation. They are:
1. Relationship status -- Drug users who were “involved” with someone used about half as many illegal drugs as their counterparts who were not “involved” (p<.04). (Ordinarily, we would expect this to be the other way around. But it is possible that the men who took part in this study used drugs without their partner’s knowledge, in which case the relationship would be expected to have an inhibiting effect on substance use.)
2. Overall health practices -- The better a person’s general health behaviors were (e.g., eating properly, getting a full night’s sleep, not smoking, etc.), the less he tended to use drugs (p<.02).
3. Age of first drug use -- The younger men were when they first began using drugs, the more drug use they tended to report as adults (p<.02). (This is a common research finding reported in the scientific literature.)
4. Optimism about the future -- The more optimistic drug-using men were regarding their future, the more drug use they tended to report (p<.002). (Although many people might have predicted this relationship to be in the other direction, some studies have shown optimism about the future to be predictive of greater involvement in risk. This seems to be attributable to people’s denial of potential risks/harms when they perceive a positive future to await them.)
5. Experiencing moderate or severe childhood maltreatment -- Men who had been moderately or severely maltreated during their formative years reported about half as much drug use as those who had not been maltreated or whose maltreatment was less consequential (p<.02). (This is contrary to expectations and requires careful thought to explain and interpret.)
6. HIV/AIDS knowledge -- The more knowledgeable drug users were with regard to HIV/AIDS and HIV transmission, the less drug use they typically reported (p<.04).
Part 4 – Sex while “Under the Influence”
A little more than half of the men participating in the Bareback Project (55.6%) said that, given their choice, they would prefer to have sex while under the influence of some substance(s) rather than completely sober. The large majority of these men (85.8% of them, or 47.7% of the total sample) said that they would prefer this to be an illegal drug, and the large majority of these men (94.5% of them, or 45.1% of the total sample) said that they would prefer this to be a drug “harder” than marijuana. One-quarter of the men in the study (25.1%) ranked marijuana as their first- or second-choice substance to combine with sex. This was followed by methamphetamine (15.7%), alcohol (13.9%), and ecstasy or other club drugs (12.1%).
In terms of their actual behaviors, nearly half of the men (47.1%) said that, during the month prior to interview, they had engaged in sex while under the influence of some substance at least once. Most of these men (73.7% of them, or 34.7% of the total sample) said that they recently had engaged in sex while high on an illegal drug, with a little more than half of these men (53.0% of them, or 18.4% of the total sample) indicating that this had been a drug “harder” than marijuana. During the month prior to interview, the three substances most frequently combined with sex by the men in the study were alcohol (26.9%), marijuana (23.6%), and methamphetamine (15.4%).
Coinciding with the preceding, a substantial number of the men who participated in the Bareback Project said that they preferred to have sex with other men who were “under the influence” of something (45.1%), with the overwhelming majority of these men (97.8% of them, or 44.1% of the total sample) specifying a preference for their partner to be high on some type of illegal drug. Indeed, nearly half of the men in the study (41.1%) said that their preference would be for both they themselves and their sex partner(s) to be high during sex. Most of these men (72.7% of them, or 29.9% of the total sample) said that their preference would be for both they themselves and their sex partner(s) to be high on some type of illegal drug during sex.
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Multivariate analysis revealed five factors that are related significantly and uniquely to the determination of whether or not men recently engaged in sex while under the influence of some type(s) of drug(s). These were:
1. Body mass index -- The more heavy-set sexually active men were, the less likely they were to have sex while high on alcohol and/or other drugs (p<.0006).
2. Preference for “wild” or “uninhibited” sex -- The more that men said that they preferred their sexual sessions to be “wild” or “uninhibited,” the more likely they were to report having sex while under the influence (p<.0001).
3. Perceived accuracy of HIV information provided in discussion -- The more accurate men perceived their partners to be when discussing their HIV serostatus with them, the more likely they were to engage in sexual relations while under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs (p<.008).
4. Impulsivity -- The more impulsive men were in general, the more likely they were to report recently having had sex while drunk and/or high (p<.0002).
5. Emotional neglect during formative years -- The more emotional neglect men experienced during their formative years, the less likely they were to report having recently had sex while under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs (p<.02). (Most of the published studies report this elationship to be in the other direction. Further thought is needed to explain this finding and to put it into its proper context.)
In a few weeks, I will be attending the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association. While there, I will be presenting the first paper generated by the work that I did on the Bareback Project, focusing on substance use and abuse. Although the poster that I will be presenting hasn't been finalized yet, I thought that I would take this opportunity to share with you some of the main findings.
Let me know your thoughts and reactions, when you've had a chance to read the following project update.
Hugh
Part 1 – Drug Use Prevalence Information
During their lifetimes, a large majority of the men taking part in the Bareback Project (85.2%) reported having used an illegal drug at least once. This is considerably greater than the comparable figure for adult men in the U.S. general population (51.3%), making participants in this study more than 5x as likely as their general population counterparts to report lifetime use of an illegal drug.
If marijuana is taken out of this equation, approximately two-thirds (68.3%) of the men participating in the Bareback Project reported lifetime use of another illegal drug. This compares with 33.6% of the men in the population-at-large.
On all major types of illegal drugs studied, the men participating in the Bareback Project were substantially more likely to report having tried the drug during their lifetimes when compared to the “typical” American male adult. Particularly noteworthy is the difference in methamphetamine use, which was nearly 12x more common among men in this study than in the general population.
Also noteworthy are the large differences in the proportion of Bareback Project men who reported recently using illegal drugs, when compared to men in the adult population. Study participants were more than 12x as likely as men in the general population to say that they used marijuana during the month prior to interview. Bareback Project men were nearly 14x as likely as the “typical” American male adult to report any illegal drug use during that time period. The differential decreased to 7x if marijuana use is taken out of the equation, but that still means that the Bareback Project men were considerably more likely to report recent drug use than their general population counterparts were.
Part 2 – Differentiating Between Men Who Did and Men Who Did Not Use Illegal Drugs
From a prevention and intervention standpoint, it is important to identify the factors that differentiate who uses illegal drugs from those who do not. For the Bareback Project, multivariate analysis identified eight characteristics that contribute uniquely and significantly to this differentiation. They are:
1. Race -- Caucasian men were 37% less likely than men belonging to other racial groups to be users of illegal drugs (p<.02).
2. Relationship status -- Men who were involved in a marital-type relationship were a little more than twice as likely as those who were not comparably "involved” to be illegal drug users (p<.03).
3. Knowing someone who had died from AIDS -- Men who knew someone who had died from AIDS-related causes were about half as likely as those who knew no such person to be a user of illegal drugs (p<.04).
4. Body mass index -- The more heavy-set a guy was, the less likely he was to be an illegal drug user (p<.002). (I’m not quite sure what to make of this particular finding, and may re-run the analysis leaving this characteristic out of the equation just to make/keep it “cleaner” intellectually.)
5. Preferred length of sexual session -- The longer guys liked their sex sessions to last, the more likely they were to be users of illegal drugs (p<.05).
6. Liking sex in public venues -- The more that men reported liking to have sex in public places, such as parks, restrooms, or bookstores, the more likely they were to be an illegal drug user (p<.04).
7. Attitudes toward condom use -- The more opposed men were to the use of condoms, the more likely they were to be illegal drug users (p<.04). (This makes sense, as it is probably indicative of a pattern of involvement in risky behaviors.)
8. Physical abuse when growing up -- The more physical abuse men experienced during their formative years, the less likely they were to become illegal drug users in adulthood (p<.02). (Most of the published studies show this to be the other way around.)
Part 3 – Understanding Greater Versus Lesser Drug Use among Illegal Drug Users
Also worthwhile from a prevention and intervention standpoint is developing an understanding of the factors that are associated with greater/lesser drug use among people who do use illegal drugs. For the Bareback Project, multivariate analysis identified six characteristics that contribute uniquely and significantly to this differentiation. They are:
1. Relationship status -- Drug users who were “involved” with someone used about half as many illegal drugs as their counterparts who were not “involved” (p<.04). (Ordinarily, we would expect this to be the other way around. But it is possible that the men who took part in this study used drugs without their partner’s knowledge, in which case the relationship would be expected to have an inhibiting effect on substance use.)
2. Overall health practices -- The better a person’s general health behaviors were (e.g., eating properly, getting a full night’s sleep, not smoking, etc.), the less he tended to use drugs (p<.02).
3. Age of first drug use -- The younger men were when they first began using drugs, the more drug use they tended to report as adults (p<.02). (This is a common research finding reported in the scientific literature.)
4. Optimism about the future -- The more optimistic drug-using men were regarding their future, the more drug use they tended to report (p<.002). (Although many people might have predicted this relationship to be in the other direction, some studies have shown optimism about the future to be predictive of greater involvement in risk. This seems to be attributable to people’s denial of potential risks/harms when they perceive a positive future to await them.)
5. Experiencing moderate or severe childhood maltreatment -- Men who had been moderately or severely maltreated during their formative years reported about half as much drug use as those who had not been maltreated or whose maltreatment was less consequential (p<.02). (This is contrary to expectations and requires careful thought to explain and interpret.)
6. HIV/AIDS knowledge -- The more knowledgeable drug users were with regard to HIV/AIDS and HIV transmission, the less drug use they typically reported (p<.04).
Part 4 – Sex while “Under the Influence”
A little more than half of the men participating in the Bareback Project (55.6%) said that, given their choice, they would prefer to have sex while under the influence of some substance(s) rather than completely sober. The large majority of these men (85.8% of them, or 47.7% of the total sample) said that they would prefer this to be an illegal drug, and the large majority of these men (94.5% of them, or 45.1% of the total sample) said that they would prefer this to be a drug “harder” than marijuana. One-quarter of the men in the study (25.1%) ranked marijuana as their first- or second-choice substance to combine with sex. This was followed by methamphetamine (15.7%), alcohol (13.9%), and ecstasy or other club drugs (12.1%).
In terms of their actual behaviors, nearly half of the men (47.1%) said that, during the month prior to interview, they had engaged in sex while under the influence of some substance at least once. Most of these men (73.7% of them, or 34.7% of the total sample) said that they recently had engaged in sex while high on an illegal drug, with a little more than half of these men (53.0% of them, or 18.4% of the total sample) indicating that this had been a drug “harder” than marijuana. During the month prior to interview, the three substances most frequently combined with sex by the men in the study were alcohol (26.9%), marijuana (23.6%), and methamphetamine (15.4%).
Coinciding with the preceding, a substantial number of the men who participated in the Bareback Project said that they preferred to have sex with other men who were “under the influence” of something (45.1%), with the overwhelming majority of these men (97.8% of them, or 44.1% of the total sample) specifying a preference for their partner to be high on some type of illegal drug. Indeed, nearly half of the men in the study (41.1%) said that their preference would be for both they themselves and their sex partner(s) to be high during sex. Most of these men (72.7% of them, or 29.9% of the total sample) said that their preference would be for both they themselves and their sex partner(s) to be high on some type of illegal drug during sex.
Multivariate analysis revealed five factors that are related significantly and uniquely to the determination of whether or not men recently engaged in sex while under the influence of some type(s) of drug(s). These were:
1. Body mass index -- The more heavy-set sexually active men were, the less likely they were to have sex while high on alcohol and/or other drugs (p<.0006).
2. Preference for “wild” or “uninhibited” sex -- The more that men said that they preferred their sexual sessions to be “wild” or “uninhibited,” the more likely they were to report having sex while under the influence (p<.0001).
3. Perceived accuracy of HIV information provided in discussion -- The more accurate men perceived their partners to be when discussing their HIV serostatus with them, the more likely they were to engage in sexual relations while under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs (p<.008).
4. Impulsivity -- The more impulsive men were in general, the more likely they were to report recently having had sex while drunk and/or high (p<.0002).
5. Emotional neglect during formative years -- The more emotional neglect men experienced during their formative years, the less likely they were to report having recently had sex while under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs (p<.02). (Most of the published studies report this elationship to be in the other direction. Further thought is needed to explain this finding and to put it into its proper context.)
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
a few charts pertaining to public sex
Nothing terribly shocking or surprising here, guys, but I thought I'd share with you a few graphics that I have put together, showing some of the results pertaining to public sex (related to but not synonymous with the anonymous sex question/issue we've been discussing recently).
In this first figure, you can see the relationship between how much guys say they like having sex in public places and how many of them actually reported engaging in that practice. As you can see here, men who said that, on a 0 to 10 scale, they like having sex in public very little (rating = 0, 1, or 2), about 12% actually reported recently having engaged in sex in public. Among men who said that they really enjoy doing this (rating = 8, 9, or 10), about two-thirds said that they had recently engaged in public sex.
I'll continue to share information and findings, preliminary and not-so-preliminary, as time permits. Hope you find these latest "ditties" at least somewhat interesting.
Hugh
Monday, September 28, 2009
hi guys . . . welcome!
Hi guys!
I thought that using the blog approach might be an interesting way for us to keep in touch as I continue to work on figuring out what my research findings are adding up to on The Bareback Project (that is, the project of mine in which you participated during 2008 or 2009). It will give me a chance to share information with you from time to time about study-related findings. The blog will also give me an opportunity to pose questions to you guys, and to see if you can help me to make sense of the research data, determine new directions to go with the work, and so forth.
A few weeks ago, I contacted a number of you with a question regarding anonymous sex, and what I, as a social scientist / public health researcher, might consider proposing to the Feds to do in a future study to help reduce the risks associated with men engaging in anonymous sex. A few dozen of you took the time to send personal replies to me, and I want to express my sincerest thanks to each and every one of you for sharing your thoughts.
From those replies, two ideas emerged. From a scientific standpoint, both have "issues" or concerns that would need to be resolved before they could be proposed to a federal grant committee for consideration for funding. But both are interesting prospects that, with some additional work/thought/creativity, might have some possibilities. Here are what strike me as the two best suggestions that you guys made:
1. Create a website which, at first, would be "locked." Men would be asked to complete an interview (either online or via telephone) similar to the one that you previously did with me, Thom, or Gina on The Bareback Project. Then, when that interview was completed, we would give you the "key" to unlock the website so that you could visit it and view its contents. The website would have a variety of information about different aspects of anonymous and semi-anonymous sex, risk reduction strategies, and so forth. Then a few months later, we would ask you to complete one more interview, similar to the first one, so that we could examine changes in beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and/or risk behavior involvement.
2. Contact the proprietors of various businesses--such as adult bookstores--where anonymous sex sometimes occurs, and see which ones might be willing to cooperate with us on an educational / intervention / prevention program. In establishments with cooperative owners, we would put up some HIV/STD information posters and make pamphlets and brochures available in various locales. For the research end of things, we would do interviews prior to and a few months after the provision of the posters, brochures, and pamphlets, so that we could assess changes over time.
So, guys, once again I turn to you for feedback, now that I have this bright shiny new blog to work with. Whatever comments and suggestions you may have in response to the following (or any other related topics) would be most helpful and, as always, greatly appreciated!
>> What are YOUR thoughts and reactions to the two approaches listed above?
>> Do YOU have any other suggestions about things that might be attempted in an effort to target the riskiness of anonymous sex?
>> When you think of anonymous sex, what is it about the practice that makes YOU like it or dislike it?
>> What exactly do you personally consider to be anonymous sex? For example, if a guy meets someone in a gay bar, talks with him for about 5 or 10 minutes, and then decides to go somewhere to have sex with him, do you consider that to be anonymous sex? As another example, suppose you see someone's profile online, and then you chat with him briefly online before agreeing to meet for sex. Do you consider that to be anonymous sex?
>> Do you personally think that it is more likely that men practice safer sex or riskier sex when they have anonymous sex than when they have other kinds of sex? Can you explain what leads you to say that?
I look forward to hearing from you about these matters and to reading your responses. Answer as many or as few of these questions as you like. Any replies that you give will be helpful to me as I try to formulate this next project more fully.
I will be in touch in the weeks ahead as well, as I work more with the project data. Happy autumn one and all!
Hugh
P.S. Don't forget to become a follower of this blog before you leave today. The button/link for doing that is on the right side of the main page. And please feel free to share the blog with gay and bisexual guy friends of yours, too.
I thought that using the blog approach might be an interesting way for us to keep in touch as I continue to work on figuring out what my research findings are adding up to on The Bareback Project (that is, the project of mine in which you participated during 2008 or 2009). It will give me a chance to share information with you from time to time about study-related findings. The blog will also give me an opportunity to pose questions to you guys, and to see if you can help me to make sense of the research data, determine new directions to go with the work, and so forth.
A few weeks ago, I contacted a number of you with a question regarding anonymous sex, and what I, as a social scientist / public health researcher, might consider proposing to the Feds to do in a future study to help reduce the risks associated with men engaging in anonymous sex. A few dozen of you took the time to send personal replies to me, and I want to express my sincerest thanks to each and every one of you for sharing your thoughts.
From those replies, two ideas emerged. From a scientific standpoint, both have "issues" or concerns that would need to be resolved before they could be proposed to a federal grant committee for consideration for funding. But both are interesting prospects that, with some additional work/thought/creativity, might have some possibilities. Here are what strike me as the two best suggestions that you guys made:
1. Create a website which, at first, would be "locked." Men would be asked to complete an interview (either online or via telephone) similar to the one that you previously did with me, Thom, or Gina on The Bareback Project. Then, when that interview was completed, we would give you the "key" to unlock the website so that you could visit it and view its contents. The website would have a variety of information about different aspects of anonymous and semi-anonymous sex, risk reduction strategies, and so forth. Then a few months later, we would ask you to complete one more interview, similar to the first one, so that we could examine changes in beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and/or risk behavior involvement.
2. Contact the proprietors of various businesses--such as adult bookstores--where anonymous sex sometimes occurs, and see which ones might be willing to cooperate with us on an educational / intervention / prevention program. In establishments with cooperative owners, we would put up some HIV/STD information posters and make pamphlets and brochures available in various locales. For the research end of things, we would do interviews prior to and a few months after the provision of the posters, brochures, and pamphlets, so that we could assess changes over time.
So, guys, once again I turn to you for feedback, now that I have this bright shiny new blog to work with. Whatever comments and suggestions you may have in response to the following (or any other related topics) would be most helpful and, as always, greatly appreciated!
>> What are YOUR thoughts and reactions to the two approaches listed above?
>> Do YOU have any other suggestions about things that might be attempted in an effort to target the riskiness of anonymous sex?
>> When you think of anonymous sex, what is it about the practice that makes YOU like it or dislike it?
>> What exactly do you personally consider to be anonymous sex? For example, if a guy meets someone in a gay bar, talks with him for about 5 or 10 minutes, and then decides to go somewhere to have sex with him, do you consider that to be anonymous sex? As another example, suppose you see someone's profile online, and then you chat with him briefly online before agreeing to meet for sex. Do you consider that to be anonymous sex?
>> Do you personally think that it is more likely that men practice safer sex or riskier sex when they have anonymous sex than when they have other kinds of sex? Can you explain what leads you to say that?
I look forward to hearing from you about these matters and to reading your responses. Answer as many or as few of these questions as you like. Any replies that you give will be helpful to me as I try to formulate this next project more fully.
I will be in touch in the weeks ahead as well, as I work more with the project data. Happy autumn one and all!
Hugh
P.S. Don't forget to become a follower of this blog before you leave today. The button/link for doing that is on the right side of the main page. And please feel free to share the blog with gay and bisexual guy friends of yours, too.
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