Top, Bottom, and Versatile Orientations among Adolescent Sexual Minority Men

Parent Facilitation of Condom Access and HIV Testing Associated with Improved Sexual Health Outcomes for Sexual Minority Young Men

Sexual minority young men experience a high HIV incidence. Parent-based interventions are promising for prevention efforts, but further research is needed to identify specific, replicable parental behaviors associated with improved sexual health outcomes for sexual minority young men. We assessed parental behaviors in the domains of facilitating access to condoms, providing instruction in condom use, and supporting HIV testing, and tested whether parental behaviors were associated with sons' condom use self-efficacy and intentions to get tested for HIV. Data came from the baseline assessment of a pilot trial of a parent-based HIV prevention program, and participants were dyads (n = 61) of sexual minority young men (M. age: 16.87; 46% racial/ethnic minority) and their parents (M. age: 44.31; 26% racial/ethnic minority). Parents and sons reported on parental behaviors in each domain. Results indicated that parents' facilitation of access to condoms was associated with sons' condom use self-efficacy, and parents' facilitation of HIV testing was associated with sons' HIV testing intentions. Findings were robust across both parent and son reports of parental behaviors. Parental condom use instruction was unrelated to sons' condom use self-efficacy. Findings suggest that parent-based HIV prevention programs for sexual minority young men should encourage parents to provide instrumental assistance to their sons in accessing condoms and HIV testing. There is a need for further research to identify underlying mechanisms.

Self-Rated Masculinity and Femininity and Reported Number of Lifetime Sexual Partners Among Cisgender Heterosexual and LGBQ Men and Women

Prior research has quantitatively examined why heterosexual men and women report different numbers of lifetime different-sex sexual partners, whereas qualitative work has analyzed how men's masculinity-and to a lesser extent, women's femininity-is tied to gender norms about sexual activity. Less research, however, has quantitatively examined the associations between self-rated masculinity and femininity and reported number of lifetime sexual partners. This brief report uses a large sample of Canadians (n = 2117) to examine how self-rated masculinity and femininity relate to reported numbers of sexual partners among four groups of cisgender people: (1) heterosexual men (n = 972), (2) heterosexual women (n = 979), (3) gay and bisexual/pansexual men (n = 99), and (4) lesbian and bisexual/pansexual women (n = 67). Results demonstrate that self-rated femininity was negatively, and masculinity positively, associated with reported numbers of lifetime different-sex sexual partners among heterosexual women. No significant associations emerged for other groups. The lack of significant associations among heterosexual men may be attributable to the fact that most rated themselves as very masculine and not very feminine, whereas there was more variation among heterosexual women. In contrast, the non-significance among LGBQ women and men could reflect that subcultural norms and practices more strongly shape the number of sexual partners individuals report having in these communities. These results demonstrate that it would be beneficial for researchers to measure self-rated masculinity and femininity in future studies about sexual partnering practices, especially among heterosexual cisgender women.

Whose Role is It Anyway? Sexual Racism and Sexual Positioning Among Young Sexual Minority Black Men

Racialized Sexual Discrimination (RSD), also referred to as "sexual racism," is widely reported among young sexual minority Black men (YSMBM). Though RSD is driven in part by sexual scripts and racial stereotypes, little is known about YSMBM's experiences with RSD with respect to their sexual positioning roles. Using data from a cross-sectional web-survey of YSMBM (N = 726), a multivariate Kruskal Wallis test was conducted comparing YSMBM who identified as mostly bottom, versatile, or mostly top, on the degree to which they were affected by four RSD experiences, as well as the frequency with which they encountered these experiences. Men identifying as mostly bottom reported significantly stronger negative reactions to same-race rejection and encountering sexual role assumptions than men identifying as mostly top. Men identifying as versatile encountered same-race rejection significantly more frequently than men identifying as mostly top. Men identifying as mostly bottom encountered White superiority significantly more frequently than men identifying as mostly top. RSD may impact YSMBM differentially based on sexual position. These findings may have implications for culturally competent clinical practice, as well as analytic implications (e.g., estimating more complex statistical models) for sexual racism research, which remains an important yet underexamined field in the health sciences.

Acceptability of 'Humpr': An Online Tool to Educate Adolescent Sexual Minority Males About Sexual Networking Applications

We examined the acceptability of Humpr - an interactive, online tool developed to educate adolescent sexual minority males (ASMM) about how to safely navigate sexual networking applications (SNA). We developed Humpr as part of a larger HIV intervention trial in the U.S. In Humpr, 218 ASMM aged 14-20 (Mage = 17.18) created a mock dating profile, explored simulated user profiles, learned health-related information (e.g. slang indicating HIV/STI risks and/or drug use intentions), and then gave feedback regarding acceptability of the tool. Results showed that Humpr was very well-received, with 94% overall approval rates. Reasons for liking Humpr were evenly split between liking it for educational and entertaining reasons. Participants praised Humpr for its realistic design and interactive interface that allowed them to engage and connect with the tool. The majority (61%) had used SNAs in the past, but many still reported learning something new from Humpr. Participants also appreciated the acknowledgment of SNA use in ASMM and how the education was implemented in an open and judgment-free way. Topics learned from Humpr included how to be safe on SNAs and warning signs for HIV/STI risks. Suggested areas of improvement included having an opt-out option for those who do not wish to participate for any reason (e.g. discomfort) and additional educational content (e.g. consequences of being a minor on SNAs). Taken together, the findings offer preliminary evidence for the potential educational benefits of digital tools like Humpr for ASMM with and without prior SNA exposure.

Validation of Herek's attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men scale among undergraduates in mainland China

The lack of a standardized reliable and valid instrument makes it difficult to measure attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men (ATLG) consistently and thus poses a challenge to compare and contrast intervention measures. This study aimed to validate Herek's ATLG scale among undergraduates in mainland China and identify factors associated with negative attitudes toward LG. A total of 6,036 eligible undergraduates conveniently drawn from 30 provinces across mainland China were randomly split in half. Item analysis was first used to select unrelated or redundant items for deletion. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were then conducted on the first half of the sample (n = 3,001), followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and reliability analysis in the second half (n = 3035). Logistic regression analyses were finally carried out to identify their determinants. Six items were removed from the item analysis. EFA supported the existence of two factors (ATL and ATG). CFA results indicated that the two-factor model fit the data better than the one-factor model. Logistic regression analyses indicated that being female, majoring in non-health-related disciplines, attributing homosexuality to uncontrollable causes, non-adherence to traditional gender norms and exposure to homosexual content were significantly associated with less negative attitudes toward both L and G. Urban students were marginally less likely to express negative attitudes toward L but not G, while non-heterosexuals and those who had prior personal contact with homosexuals exhibited less negative attitudes toward G but not L. However, grade showed no significant associations with either ATL or ATG. The retained 14-item version of Herek's ATLG scale has been proven to be a reliable and valid tool. Furthermore, ATL and ATG were determined by different factors and thus would be treated separately. In order to reduce negative attitudes toward LG among undergraduates in mainland China, a comprehensive intervention plan such as conducting comprehensive sex education and pushing the process of legalizing same-sex marriage should be designed, implemented and evaluated.

Subcultural Identification, Penetration Practices, Masculinity, and Gender Labels within a Nationally Representative Sample of Three Cohorts of American Black, White, and Latina/o LGBQ People

Most quantitative research about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) people's sexual subcultures and sexual practices has used non-probability samples due to data limitations. This paper used the Generations study, a national probability sample of LGBQ Americans in three age cohorts, 18-25 (n = 510), 34-41 (n = 294), and 52-59 (n = 425), who also identified as Black, white, or Latina/o. This paper analyzed men (n = 590) and women (n = 639) to answer the following sets of research questions: (1) What is the prevalence of subcultural identification as bear, leather/kink, twink, and jock among men, and how does it differ by cohort, race/ethnicity, and sexual identity? (2) What is the prevalence of men who describe themselves as a top, versatile top, versatile, versatile bottom, and bottom? What is the relationship between penetration practices and masculinity? (3) What is the prevalence of gender labels among women as femme, androgynous, and butch? How does the prevalence differ by cohort, race/ethnicity, and sexual identity? (4) What is the relationship between women's gender labels and masculinity? Penetration practices were fairly evenly distributed among men, and there were few differences in masculinity based on penetration practices after controlling for demographics and subcultural identification. Most women did not use gender labels, but butch identities were more common among lesbians and femme labels were more common among Black women and Latinas.

Performer Roles and Behaviors in Dyadic Sexually Explicit Media Featuring Men Who Have Sex with Men

Heterosexual gender roles are not directly relevant to gay romantic relationships, but gay men often take on different relationship roles depending on their sexual roles. In the present paper, we argue that gay men might draw on sexually explicit media (SEM) featuring men who have sex with men (MSM) to get information about how insertive sexual partners ("tops") and receptive sexual partners ("bottoms") typically behave. For this to be the case, however, we would have to reliably observe different behavior in SEM performers acting as tops vs. bottoms. We examined 220 of the most viewed online dyadic MSM SEM videos to determine whether performed verbal and physical intimacy, victimization, and sexual behaviors depended on the sexual role taken. We found that tops and bottoms engaged in similar amounts of intimacy behaviors, but that bottoms were depicted as initiating sexual activity more than tops. Tops enacted physical and psychological victimization more than bottoms, although these behaviors were rare. Tops were shown taking the insertive role across all sexual acts and versatile performers (i.e., those taking both insertive and receptive roles) were rarely depicted. The present study adds to the literature about the complexity of sexual-self-labels, and suggests that MSM SEM depictions of intimacy and sexual decision-making depend on the sexual role taken.