High-risk Sexual Behaviors of Young Black and Latino Men and HIV-positive Males - Research Paper Example

?Running head: SEXUAL BEHAVIORS OF YOUNG BLACK AND LATINO MEN High-risk Sexual Behaviors of Young Black and Latino Men and HIV-positive Males (your name) (your school’s name) In partial fulfillment of the requirements for PSY389 (instructor’s name) (date) The article is a result of a qualitative study focused on trying to understand the sexual behaviors of young Latino and African American men as they continue to engage in sex with partners who have been diagnosed with HIV. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention had reported 42,929 cases of AIDS in 2008 with blacks making up 62% and Hispanics 17% of the HIV/AIDS cases in the minority group. Knowing the factors that influence this particular group’s sexual behaviors can aid in the development of interventions and help in limiting the risk of HIV/AIDS infection. Unfortunately, there exist only a few researches on adolescents and young adults living with HIV. From these studies, the authors have gathered that substance use, social sexual environment, psychosocial factors and partner characteristics are common factors in cases of young men with HIV. As such, the qualitative study was conducted to fully understand the significance of these factors on the particular minority group. The authors invited 59 youths to participate in the study. After further screening, which included ethnicity, race, age and health among others, only 27 were included in the study. A variety of data was collected from a qualitative interview, brief quantitative survey and psychosocial measures. The information was then analyzed using STATA version 9.0 and ATLAS.ti® version 4.2 (VanDevanter, Duncan, Burrell-Piggot, Bleakley, Birnbaum, Siegel, Lekas, Schrimshaw, Cohall and Ramjohn, 2011) A preliminary coding scheme to identify patterns in the data were developed as well as a profile for each participant. Ultimately, the following definitions were used to analyze qualitative data: high-risk participants, moderate participants, low-risk participants and no-risk participants. (VanDevantar, et. al, 2011) Due to computer error, only 25 results from the 27 participants were available. These results showed that all of the participants acquired HIV from having sex and that prior to having HIV, 20% had intercourse 11 years or younger and 72% had six or more lifetime partners. (VanDevantar, et. al, 2011) There were more participants who informed their partner of their HIV status and who reportedly used condoms the last time they had intercourse. A lot of the participants used alcohol, marijuana and other drugs during their lifetime and in the past thirty days. As for sexual risk behavior, only five participants were sexually inactive since being diagnosed with HIV. Condom use was not regular for the majority. There were many who had ten sexual partners in the past three months. Generally, substance use and social-sexual environment greatly contributed to the sexual behavior of high-risk participants. Participants shared that using drugs caused them to change their predisposition to use condoms. After using drugs, they became reckless and participated in unsafe sex. Meanwhile, participants were encouraged to seek out partners in certain environments that often lead to unprotected sex. The drive to have sex either increased or declined when participants learned they were HIV-positive. Condom use seemed to be dependent on the sexual partner’s characteristics, whether or not the partner is handsome or HIV-positive, as well as the participant’s belief of his or her partner’s responsibilities. The authors discussed the need for more intensive intervention programs for these youths. There is a need to address the issue of substance use as most of the participants engaged in high-risk sexual behavior when under the influence of drugs. Moreover, some participants had reported engaging in unprotected sex due to their line of work and the characteristics of their sexual partners, especially if the partner was also diagnosed with HIV. The discussion points are supported by the research. The qualitative study conducted by the authors focused on the same factors presented in the discussion part of the article. As the writers had discovered in the study, the participants admitted to being influenced by the different factors such as substance abuse, social environment and others. As such, there is a need to educate these youths, as suggested in the discussion, in order to limit their risk of being infected with HIV or giving the condition to others. This research was significant because it involved young people and HIV. Youths, no matter the race or nationality, should go through this developmental stage healthy and happy. As such, it should be of great concern when they cannot grow as a normal teenager because of their association with substances and a condition such as HIV. Knowing the factors that greatly promote high-risk sexual behavior in teens, professionals in the medical field may be encouraged to develop proper interventions for this. As for HIV, discovering how it can so easily be transmitted now to the minority youth because of unsafe sex triggered by negative influences in the society, medical practitioners may use this research as a source of motivation to come up with appropriate and effective interventions. Reference: VanDeaver, N., Duncan, A., Burrell-Piggott, T., Bleakly, A., Birnbaum, J., Siegel, K., Lekas, H.M., Schrimshaw, E., Cohall A., and Ramhjon, D. (2011). The influence of substance use, social sexual environment, psychosocial factors, and partner characteristics on high-risk sexual behavior among young black and Latino men who have sex with men living with HIV: A qualitative study. AIDS Patient Care STDS, 25 (2): 113-121. Read More