AEGiS-14IAC: Community involvement and HIV/AIDS among young gay/bisexual men.

14th International AIDS Conference

Barcelona, Spain - July 7-12, 2002

Community involvement and HIV/AIDS among young gay/bisexual men.

Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no. TuOrE1239)

Ferrer LM, Ramirez-Valles J, Kegeles S, Rebehook G
University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Chicago, United States

BACKGROUND: Community Involvement (CI) has shown to be an HIV risk protective factor. However, little research on young gay/bisexual men's CI has been done in the United States. The goal of this study is to examine correlates (e.g., sexual self-identity, self-esteem, and social support) of CI among Latino and White young gay/bisexual men.

METHODS: This is an analysis of cross-sectional data from White and Latino gay/bisexual men aged 18 to 27, in three U.S. cities (i.e., Austin, Phoenix, and Albuquerque). Data were collected in 1996 through self-administered surveys. The sample includes 732 White and 362 Latino men (N= 1,094).

RESULTS: CI was defined as volunteering in HIV/AIDS and gay-related organizations within the previous year. Comparing volunteer scores for both White and Latinos, White men significantly did more volunteer work (p<.05). Significant predictors for CI were: living in Albuquerque (b=-.076), being HIV+ (b=.088), knowing someone with AIDS (b=.103),and internalized homophobia (b=-.153). CI was significantly associated with sexual self-identity, but did not show association with self-esteem or social support after controlling for socio-demographic factors, experience with HIV/AIDS, and internalized homophobia. HIV risky behavior (unprotected anal sex with a men) was found in 37% of gay men who were not involved in volunteer work. On the other hand, 35% of the volunteers were acquiring a risky behavior.

CONCLUSIONS: In general, less than 25% of young gay men do volunteer work in HIV or gay related organizations. Usually volunteerism is done by White men, HIV+ men, men who have known someone with AIDS, or the ones who have less internalized homophobia. Future HIV/AIDS prevention programs need to target young gay/bisexual men, specially Latinos. In addition, they may need to address CI and internalized homophobia to increase their effectiveness in reducing the epidemic in this community.

Keywords: AEGIS, Bisexuality, Homosexuality, Male, Homosexuality, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Infections, HIV Seropositivity, Sex Behavior, Safe Sex, Hispanic Americans, Gender Identity, Prejudice, Voluntary Workers, European Continental Ancestry Group, United States, Human, Male

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TuOrE1239