mental health AIDS

Spring 2008 Newsletter / Volume 9, Issue 3

HIV Prevention News

About Men Who Have Sex With Men

Grov et al. (2008) analyzed interview data drawn from 111 gay and bisexual men in New York City who were experiencing out-of-control sexual thoughts and/or behaviors. The focus of the investigation was the role of the Internet in the lives of these men, 24 of whom were living with HIV (21.6% of the total sample). Grov and colleagues report that

[f]or some it facilitated their problematic sexual thoughts and behaviours and, to some extent, was a distraction from important facets of their lives. Equally, men identified strategies to limit their internet use and reduce these negative consequences. For some, the internet ... [contributed] to [their] being less discriminating about partners. In contrast, other men compared the internet to other venues for meeting sex partners (e.g. bars) and described the internet as a medium for reducing physical (cruising online versus cruising a dark alley) and sexual (multiple partners at bathhouses versus cyber-sex only) risk. (p. 107)

In the context of these findings, Grov and colleagues caution clinicians to conduct "a more nuanced assessment of the impact of internet use on a person's overall well-being, rather than assume that the internet primarily negatively impacts on sexual health" (p. 120). Moreover, the investigators invite clinicians to "consider ways in which internet use could be a beneficial aspect of therapy or treatment. Cognitive behavioural strategies could focus on the internet as a method of stimulus control and an outlet for channelling sexual urges" (p. 120).

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