Abstract
There is evidence that risks for HIV and sexually transmitted infections among adolescent females are higher for those with older male sexual partners. Yet, little empirical research has been conducted with male adolescents who engage in sexual activity with older men. In this article, we summarize in a number of ways the range of sexual activity reported by an ethnically diverse sample of 200 gay and bisexual male youth (15–22 years old) in Chicago and Miami. A general pattern of progression from oral sex with men to both receptive and insertive anal sex with men appeared to characterize the sample during their adolescence. Further, there appeared to be a high degree of “versatile” positioning among the sexually active gay and bisexual young men, in both age-discrepant and age-concordant dyads. Risk analysis revealed having primarily age-concordant partners to be a significant predictor of sexual risk behavior. HIV risk among young gay and bisexual men engaging in sexual activity with older men may occur not only within a distinct biological context from their heterosexual counterparts, but also in a social context that may not as rigidly bound to traditional assumptions about age, gender, and power. The significant associations among participants with partners who were the same age and the risk behavior measures in this analysis have implications for HIV prevention efforts.
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Acknowledgments
The Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN) is funded by Nos. 5 U01 HD 40533 and 5 U01 HD 40474 from the National Institutes of Health through the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Bill Kapogiannis, M.D.; Sonia Lee, Ph.D.) with supplemental funding from the National Institutes of Drug Abuse (Nicolette Borek, Ph.D.) and Mental Health (Susannah Allison, Ph.D.). We would like to thank Larry Friedman, M.D., PI of the Miami Adolescent Trials Unit and the staff of the Behavioral Health Promotion Program (Cesar deFuentes, Luis Alzamora, Cristobal Plaza, and Leah Varga) and participating staff at DePaul University (Bianca Wilson, Marco Hidalgo, Rodrigo Sebastian Torres). ATN020 has been scientifically reviewed by the ATN’s Behavioral Leadership Group. We would also like to thank individuals from the ATN Data and Operations Center (Westat, Inc.) including Jim Korelitz, Ph.D.; Barbara Driver, R.N., M.S.; and individuals from the ATN Coordinating Center at the University of Alabama including Craig Wilson, M.D.; Cindy Partlow, M.Ed.; and Marcia Berck, B.A. Additionally, we would like to acknowledge the thoughtful input given by participants of our national and local Youth Community Advisory Boards. Finally, we would like to thank the young men who participated in this study, whose willingness to share their stories makes our work possible.
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Bruce, D., Harper, G.W., Fernández, M.I. et al. Age-Concordant and Age-Discordant Sexual Behavior Among Gay and Bisexual Male Adolescents. Arch Sex Behav 41, 441–448 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9730-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9730-8