Sexual behavior among hiv-positive men who have sex with men: What's in a label?

Relatively little attention has been paid to the use and importance of labels used by men who have sex with men to describe insertive or receptive sexual behavior during intercourse. This study examines sexual self-labels, sexual behavior, HIV transmission risk, and psychological functioning among 2...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of sex research 2003-05, Vol.40 (2), p.179-188
Main Authors: Hart, Trevor A., Wolitski, Richard J., Purcell, David W., Gómez, Cynthia, Halkitis, Perry, The Seropositive Urban Men's Study Team
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AIDS
Anal intercourse
Anxiety
Demography
Gays & lesbians
Gender roles
HIV
HIV Seropositivity - psychology
HIV Seropositivity - transmission
Homophobia
Homosexuality, Male - psychology
Homosexuals
Human immunodeficiency virus
Human sexual behavior
Humans
LGBT
Male
Men
Multivariate Analysis
Risk Factors
Risk perception
Self image
Selflabelling
Sensation seeking
Sexual behavior
Sexual behaviour
Sexual Partners
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Summary:Relatively little attention has been paid to the use and importance of labels used by men who have sex with men to describe insertive or receptive sexual behavior during intercourse. This study examines sexual self-labels, sexual behavior, HIV transmission risk, and psychological functioning among 205 HIV-seropositive men who have sex with men. The majority of participants (88%) identified as a "top, " a "bottom, " or "versatile. " Tops were more likely to engage in insertive anal intercourse than bottoms, and bottoms were more likely to engage in receptive anal intercourse than tops, with versatiles reporting intermediate rates of both behaviors. Although the results suggest preliminary evidence regarding the predictive utility of self-labels, sexual behaviors of self-label groups were greatly overlapping. Differences were found among self-label groups in gay self-identification, internalized homophobia, sexual sensation seeking, and anxiety. Results suggest an added value in assessing self-labels in addition to asking about sexual behavior.
ISSN:0022-4499
1559-8519
DOI:10.1080/00224490309552179