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Improving the Health of Cisgender Men Who Identify as Bisexual: What Do They Want from Interventions?

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Abstract

Self-identified bisexual men are at increased risk for negative health outcomes, but there are no interventions tailored to their unique needs. In order to develop interventions for this population, it is first necessary to understand their preferences. As part of a larger study, 128 cisgender men who identified as bisexual reported on their preferences for different intervention components. Large proportions of participants prioritized addressing both health (e.g., mental health, HIV/STI) and psychosocial experiences (e.g., dating/relationships, discrimination/victimization). A slightly larger proportion of participants preferred an intervention for gay and bisexual men together compared to an intervention for bisexual men only. However, those who reported more discrimination and recent female sexual partners were more likely to prefer an intervention for bisexual men only. Larger proportions of participants preferred a group intervention compared to an individual intervention and an in-person intervention compared to an online intervention. These findings highlight the importance of addressing both health and psychosocial experiences in tailored interventions for self-identified bisexual men. Further, while in-person and group interventions may appeal to larger proportions of self-identified bisexual men, the appeal of an intervention for gay and bisexual men together compared to an intervention for bisexual men only may depend on individual and social/contextual factors.

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Funding

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01DA036939; PI: Mustanski). Brian A. Feinstein’s time was also supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (K08DA045575; PI: Feinstein). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing, Northwestern University, 625 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Brian A. Feinstein, Aaron K. Korpak, Michael E. Newcomb & Brian Mustanski

  2. Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Brian Dodge

  3. Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Michael E. Newcomb & Brian Mustanski

Authors
  1. Brian A. Feinstein
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  2. Brian Dodge
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  3. Aaron K. Korpak
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  4. Michael E. Newcomb
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  5. Brian Mustanski
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Correspondence to Brian A. Feinstein.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Feinstein, B.A., Dodge, B., Korpak, A.K. et al. Improving the Health of Cisgender Men Who Identify as Bisexual: What Do They Want from Interventions?. Sex Res Soc Policy 16, 385–391 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-019-0380-2

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