© 2007 American Public Health Association DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.075630
Robert Garofalo is with the Adolescent HIV Services, Childrens Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill, and the Howard Brown Health Center, Chicago. Amy Herrick is with the Department of Research, Howard Brown Health Center, Chicago. Brian S. Mustanski and Geri Rachel Donenberg are with the Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Juvenile Research, University of Illinois, Chicago. Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Robert Garofalo, Adolescent HIV Services, Childrens Memorial Hospital, 2300 Childrens Plaza, Box 16, Chicago, IL 60613 (e-mail: rgarofalo{at}childrensmemorial.org).
Objectives. We examined the prevalence of Internet use for meeting sexual partners (Internet partners) and HIV risk behaviors associated with this use among young men who have sex with men (aged 1624 years).
Methods. A sample of 270 young men who have sex with men completed a computer-assisted survey. We used bivariate Results. Using the Internet to meet sexual partners was common; 48% of our sample had sexual relations with a partner they met online. Of these, only 53% used condoms consistently, and 47% reported having sexual partners older (>4 years) than themselves. Regression analyses showed increased age, White race/ethnicity, history of unprotected anal intercourse, multiple anal intercourse partners, and engaging in sexual activity at a sex club or a bathhouse were associated with meeting sexual partners through the Internet. Only history of unprotected anal intercourse was associated with risky sexual behaviors with Internet partners (P<0.025). Conclusions. Young men who have sex with men and who seek partners online also engage in other behaviors that place them at risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Adolescents and young adults are the largest segment of the US population with Internet access: an estimated 90% of youths aged 15 to 24 years have been online.1 Todays youths have integrated the Internet into many aspects of their daily life, and they use it for everything from online shopping to accessing health-related information.2 It has been suggested that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youths perceive the Internet to be a lifeline that affords them the ability to contact, communicate, and socialize with individuals who have had similar experiences but are often unavailable in the youths day-to-day lives and communities.3 The Internet potentially holds special appeal for LGBT youths who are seeking romantic or sexual partners because its anonymity confers a sense of perceived safety against the stigma that surrounds same-sex activity.35 Moreover, its expansive network offers access to a larger social group than is generally available within the context of a predominantly heterosexual culture. Among adult gay men, the Internet has emerged as a popular venue for seeking sexual partners and has been associated with high-risk behaviors that place individuals at risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).614 Several studies in the United States and Europe have found elevated levels of risky sexual behaviors among men who have sex with men (MSM) and who seek and meet sexual partners through the Internet (hereafter Internet partners). These studies were conducted with adult MSM, the majority of whom were aged 30 to 40 years.614 Many previous studies have explored use of the Internet by adult MSM and sexual risk behaviors. These studies selectively sampled potentially high-risk participants, including men who were HIV positive, had been diagnosed with an STI, had attended a sex resort, had participated in gay pride festivities, or were recruited to participate in the studies while they were in bars and clubs.6,9,12,14 By contrast, very little is known about Internet use and sexual risk behaviors among adolescent and young MSM, a population known to be at increased risk for acquiring HIV and other STIs.15 Our exploratory study examined Internet use for meeting sexual partners and high-risk sexual and substance use behaviors among a sample of young MSM in Chicago, Ill.
Participants and Procedures A community-based sample of 270 ethnically diverse self-identified young MSM aged 16 to 24 years participated in our study. Youths were recruited consecutively during a 12-month period from August 2004 to September 2005 from multiple sources, including flyers posted in retail locations that were frequented by LGBT individuals (i.e., stores, coffee shops, restaurants), flyers posted in local agencies that served LGBT youths, advertisements posted on high school and college or university e-mail discussion lists, individual advertisements that were distributed in LGBT-identified neighborhoods, and snowball sampling. Trained staff assessed potential participants decisional capacity for consent and reviewed study procedures and the risks and benefits of participation.16 Surveys were administered in a private room at a community-based health center that provided primary care, STI and HIV specialty care, and social services to the LGBT community. Youths used self-administered computer-assisted technology to complete a 90-minute confidential survey that assessed sexual and substance use behaviors and Internet use for the purpose of meeting a romantic or sexual partner. Each participant received $30 for participating in the study.
Measures
Statistical Analyses
Table 1
A high number of young MSM (68%) reported Internet use for finding a romantic or sexual partner, and 48% reported having had sexual relations with someone they met using the Internet. Thirty-five percent of the young MSM younger than 21 years reported having had sexual relations with an Internet partner compared with 63% of participants who were aged 21 to 24 years, which was a significant difference ( 2=21.08; P<.001). White young MSM were most likely to meet sexual partners through the Internet (65%) compared with Black youths (20%) or Hispanic (51%) youths. Forty-seven percent of youths who had Internet-facilitated sexual encounters reported partners who were "a lot older (>4 years)" than themselves; an additional 25% reported partners who were "slightly older (24 years)." Of particular concern, only 53% of the young MSM reported 100% condom use during sexual encounters with Internet partners. Although our question about Internet partners did not allow us to differentiate between oral and anal sexual activities, of the 61 young MSM who reported inconsistent condom use with Internet partners, more than one third referenced anal intercourse specifically when they cited enjoying sexual activity more without a condom as the reason for their risky behavior ("it is more fun to play bare" or "anal sex feels better without condoms"). Other rationales for inconsistent condom use with Internet partners that were offered by 5% to 10% of our young MSM included carelessness ("I was stupid"), knowing a partners HIV status ("we both knew our status"), inconvenience ("none around at the time"), vulnerability or partner pressures ("I was too afraid to ask"), and being high on drugs or alcohol ("I was too drunk to care").
Both outcome variablessexual relations with Internet partners and unprotected sexual relations with Internet partnerswere significantly associated with multiple demographic characteristics and sexual and substance use risk behaviors. According to
Table 2
Consistent with the emerging literature about adult MSM, our results show that many adolescent and young adult MSM use the Internet for both seeking and meeting sexual partners. Sixty-eight percent of the young MSM aged 16 to 24 years reported having used the Internet in an attempt to meet a romantic or sexual partner, and 70% (129 of 184) of those participants reported having had sexual relations with an Internet partner. Although initiating sexual contact through the Internet is certainly not a new phenomenon, our data are among the first to identify the Internet as an important venue for forming sexual networks among young MSM, an understudied subpopulation of youths at risk for acquiring HIV and other STIs.15 For youths who identifiy as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, navigating an adolescence and young adulthood complicated by the stigma that surrounds a nonheterosexual identity, the relative anonymity of the Internet may facilitate same-sex sexual experimentation that may not be available in more traditional social venues.35 White and Hispanic young MSM in our sample were more likely than young Black MSM to either seek or meet a sexual partner online, which may suggest that there are racial/ethnic populations of youths who have either greater access to computers or greater access to confidential use of the Internet, because locating sexual partners requires both access to computers and an environment conducive to discreet online interaction. Similar rationale may help explain the age differences in seeking and meeting sexual partners online among our study population. The young MSM in our study reported numerous risk behaviors both online and offline. However, when compared with their peers, the young MSM participants who used the Internet to meet sexual partners reported statistically higher rates of risky sexual behavior across the board (i.e., increased number of sexual partners, less consistent condom use during anal intercourse, history of commercial sexual activity, and sexual activity at a sex club or a bathhouse) and greater use of Viagra and methamphetamine, substances that are well-known to either facilitate sexual activity or be associated with risky sexual behavior.17 As such, our study extends the current literature on contextual factors associated with Internet-facilitated sexual encounters among adult MSM and young MSM. Contextual factors, including methamphetamine or Viagra use, commercial sexual activity, and sexual activity at a sex club or a bathhouse, are of particular concern because of their clear association with HIV risk among adult MSM.1417 Moreover, having sexual relations at a sex club or a bath-house, which remained an independent predictor of meeting sexual partners online in our multivariate analyses, may point to a subpopulation of young MSM who are enticed by the relative ease of anonymous sexual activity that both venues offer. The high rate of youths (>50%) who met older Internet partners potentially accentuates the risks for these young men. In addition, the association between risky sexual behaviors (i.e., either multiple anal intercourse partners in the past 3 months or history of unprotected anal or oral intercourse in the past year) and meeting Internet partners, and the association between unprotected anal intercourse and risky Internet-facilitated sexual encounters, after we controlled for the effect of other variables in our hierarchical models, suggests an association between general sexual risk behaviors among young MSM and the Internet that needs to be further explored. Despite the growing body of evidence that associates Internet-facilitated sexual encounters with risky sexual behaviors among MSM, which now includes young MSM, the underlying motivations remain poorly understood for the adolescent and young adult subpopulation. In an exploratory attempt to understand the motivations that underlie risky sexual behaviors with Internet partners, we asked participants to tell us why they did not use condoms during Internet-facilitated sexual encounters. They reported partner pressures or vulnerability, inconvenience, decreased enjoyment, and carelessness, which underscores the importance of future research that identifies risk mechanisms, particularly within the context of adolescent development and an emerging young MSM identity. However, because our study is among the first reports of Internet use among young MSM, many questions remain unanswered. For example, is the Internet an independent source of risk, simply a tool for taking risks, or both? Because of the extent to which the Internet has permeated youth culture, and because of concerns about heightened HIV and STI risk among young MSM, our findings illuminate both the challenges of the Internet and the opportunities that the Internet provides. The challenge posed by the Internet for STI and HIV prevention is the relative ease with which the Internet can facilitate anonymous and potentially risky sexual encounters that are otherwise unavailable in traditional social settings. The Internet holds tremendous appeal as a social and sexual networking tool, particularly among young MSM who are in environments where there are limited options for the exploration of their sexual identity.35 The opportunity is the Internets potential to connect with an often hard-to-reach and vulnerable population that is not easily accessed through clinical and community-based settings.21 Some Internet-based HIV/STI prevention interventions have been developed and piloted for adult MSM. For example, some programs encourage or facilitate safer-sex discussions in private e-mail conversations and chat rooms, and other programs post prevention messages on MSM-oriented Web sites.1820 However, it remains unclear how to identify, recruit, and retain participants in Internet-based HIV/STI prevention interventions. It also is unclear whether these interventions will ultimately prove effective in changing behavior.20,21 The promise of interventions for young MSM will rely to a great extent on their ability to be tailored to the developmental needs of youths, including a focus on developing sexual health communication and self-efficacy skills and being able to resist a sexual partners pressure to engage in risky behaviors.
Limitations
Conclusions
This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (grant RO3MH070812) and the National Center for Research Resources (grant K12RR017707). The authors acknowledge the dedication of the entire Youth Services staff of Howard Brown Health Center, without whose support this project could not have been accomplished. We also thank Chicagos lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth community for its assistance with this project.
Human Participants Protection:
Peer Reviewed
Contributors Accepted for publication February 28, 2006.
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