title: A qualitative analysis of father-son relationships among HIV-positive young black men who have sex with men.
abstract: Young black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) are experiencing high and rising rates of HIV infection, more than any other age-risk group category in the USA. Contributors to HIV risk in this group remain incompletely elucidated. We conducted exploratory qualitative interviews with 20 HIV-positive YBMSM aged 17-24 and found that father-son relationships were perceived to be important sociocontextual influences in participants' lives. Participants discussed the degree of their fathers' involvement in their lives, emotional qualities of the father-son relationship, communication about sex, and masculine socialization. Participants also described pathways linking father-son relationships to HIV risk, which were mediated by psychological and situational risk scenarios. Our thematic analysis suggests that father-son relationships are important to the psychosocial development of YBMSM, with the potential to either exacerbate or attenuate sexual risk for HIV. Interventions designed to strengthen father-son relationships may provide a promising direction for future health promotion efforts in this population.
authors.affiliation: Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd NE, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA, sophia.ahmed.hussen@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Sophia A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hussen
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gilliard
authors.forename: Cleopatra H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Caldwell
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Andes
authors.forename: Rana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chakraborty
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Malebranche
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009679:Nuclear Family / Q000523:psychology*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology; D055815:Young Adult