Sexual risk taking in relation to sexual identification, age, and education in a diverse sample of African American men who have sex with men (MSM) in New York City.
HIV disproportionately affects African American men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States. To inform this epidemiological pattern, we examined cross-sectional sexual behavior data in 509 African American MSM. Bivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the extent to which age, education,and sexual identity explain the likelihood of engaging in sex with a partner of a specific gender and the likelihood of engaging in unprotected sexual behaviors based on partner gender. Across all partner gender types,unprotected sexual behaviors were more likely to be reported by men with lower education. Younger, non-gay identified men were more likely to engage in unprotected sexual behaviors with transgender partners, while older, non-gay identified men were more likely to engage in unprotected sexual behaviors with women. African American MSM do not represent a monolithic group in their sexual behaviors, highlighting the need to target HIV prevention efforts to different subsets of African American MSM communities as appropriate.
Center for Health, Identity, Behavior, & Prevention Studies, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, & Human Development, New York University, 82 Washington Square East, Pless 555, New York, NY 10003, USA.
Melvin C
MC
Hampton
Perry N
PN
Halkitis
Erik D
ED
Storholm
Sandra A
SA
Kupprat
Daniel E
DE
Siconolfi
Donovan
D
Jones
Jeff T
JT
Steen
Sara
S
Gillen
Donna Hubbard
DH
McCree
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000367:Age Factors; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000635:transmission; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City / Q000208:ethnology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012747:Sexual Partners; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult